Sweden Qatar: Foreign Ministry summons Sweden's Ambassador over Quran-burning incident
Doha: Qatar's Foreign Ministry said Friday that it summoned Swedish Ambassador Gautam Bhattacharyya to hand him a note of protest over the repeated desecration of the Quran in Sweden.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces that, on the back of continued attack aimed at the Quran and Islam, it was summoning HE Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to the state Gautam Bhattacharyya to hand him an official objection memo that includes calls on the Swedish authorities to take all the necessary measures to stop these heinous practices," the ministry said in a statement on the website.
The ministry noted that Doha expresses "its strong dissatisfaction and denunciation of the repeated permission to attack the Holy Quran in the Kingdom of Sweden, and the failure of the authorities there to stop these practices," adding that "allowing continued attacks against the Quran under the pretense of freedom of expression inflames hatred and violence, threatens peaceful coexistence, and reveals objectionable double standards."
The Swedish police have given Iraqi immigrant Salwan Momika the go-ahead to stage another Quran-burning protest. His previous act in June sparked outrage in many Muslim countries.
Hundreds of Iraqi demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad ahead of Momika's protest, which took place Thursday in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm. In the end, the 37-year-old stepped on his copy of the Quran but did not burn it.
On June 28, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, a protest took place outside Stockholm's main mosque, during which a Quran was burned. The Swedish police authorized the demonstration. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the authorization was "lawful but inappropriate."
A similar demonstration took place in Sweden in January when Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned the Muslim holy book in front of the Turkish embassy.
In July, media reported that Swedish authorities had issued permits for several more acts of burning religious books.
(With UNI inputs)
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