AA / Birmingham / Mehmet Solmaz
The United Kingdom has condemned the desecration and burning of the Qur’an, Islam’s holy book, carried out in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
In a written statement from a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO), the UK government said such actions were “deeply insulting to Muslims everywhere and wholly inappropriate”.
The Foreign Office stated that the UK condemns hatred on the grounds of religion or belief, saying: “We will support freedom of religion or belief for all and promote mutual respect. We recognize the profound anguish experienced by Muslims around the world over the burning of the Qur’an.”
The Arab and Islamic countries denounced the permission granted by Sweden to desecrate the Qur’an.
A mob of Iraqis stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday and set it on fire to protest the burning of a copy of the Quran on June 28 by Sloane Momica, an Iraqi-born man now living in Sweden.
Many countries, including the United States, Russia, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan and other Muslim countries, also condemned the attack.
Following the attack on the Swedish diplomatic mission, Momika desecrated another copy of the Qur’an by stepping on it and the Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.
In response to this act, which was repeated several times, the Iraqi government warned Sweden that it would sever diplomatic relations if this profanation of the Islamic holy book continued.
* Translated from English by Mounir Bannour.
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