Following expulsion of Swedish ambassador, Iraq calls for Islamic summit after Quran desecration

BAGHDAD: Following the expulsion of Swedish ambassador, Iraq on Friday called for an Islamic summit to discuss the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden, as Nordic country temporarily moved its embassy in Baghdad to Stockholm.

Media reports cited Ahmed Al Sahaf, a spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, as saying that Minister Fuad Hussein had called for an emergency session of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC).

“Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein is intensifying his efforts with our Arab and Islamic counterparts to hold the Islamic Summit Conference and have an emergency session at a ministerial level to discuss the repercussions of Islamophobia and the burning of the Quran,” Al Sahaf said.

Mr Hussein made several calls to his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Iran and Jordan to discuss holding the meeting, the spokesman said. Saudi Arabia agreed to hold the emergency meeting and “take the necessary measures collectively”.

The call comes after an activist in Stockholm on Thursday desecrated the Holy Quran for the second time in weeks, defying condemnation from Iraq where Sweden’s ambassador was expelled in protest.

Iraq asked the Swedish ambassador to leave its territory and recalled its charge d’affaires from Stockholm as the stunt took place outside Baghdad’s diplomatic mission in Sweden.

According to reports, the incident took place following the grant of permit by the Swedish authorities for the ghastly act. Salwan Momika kicked the Quran around on a patch of grass as police looked on outside Iraq’s Stockholm embassy. The holy book was not set on fire.

Reports that Swedish authorities would permit the protest on grounds of free speech led to hundreds of Iraqis storming and torching Sweden’s Baghdad embassy in a chaotic pre-dawn attack on Thursday.

Qatar summoned Sweden’s ambassador to hand him a protest note over the desecration of the Quran in Stockholm, the foreign ministry said early on Friday.

Saudi Arabia summoned the Swedish charge d’affaires in Riyadh and handed him a note of protest, the foreign ministry said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on Friday that Sweden’s ambassador had been summoned by Tehran, which denounced the permit for the act and warned Stockholm of the consequences of such actions.

“We condemn the repeated desecration of the holy Quran and Islamic sanctities in Sweden and hold the Swedish government fully responsible for the consequences of inciting the feelings of Muslims around the world.”- Agencies