In Stockholm, Sweden. ARCHIVE

The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Chargé D’Affaires at the Swedish Embassy in the UAE to hand an official note of protest against a repeated attack on the Holy Quran by extremists in Sweden. The UAE strongly condemned the decision of the Swedish government to continue to allow protests that desecrate the Holy Quran, stressing that Sweden “has disregarded its international responsibilities and demonstrated a lack of respect for social values in this regard.” The ministry emphasised the importance of monitoring hate speech and expressions of racism that negatively impact peace and security, and rejected the use of freedom of expression to justify such acts, which it described as “heinous”. The ministry stressed that religious symbols must be respected and principles of tolerance and peaceful co-existence must be upheld. On Thursday (July 20), hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad for a second time and set fire to its compound after an Iraqi Christian refugee in Stockholm was given permission by Swedish police to burn a copy of the Holy Quran. The refugee, Salwan Momika, stomped on the book outside the Iraqi embassy but did not set fire to it. Last month he set fire to the holy boo outside a mosque in Stockholm. The protests were allowed in Stockholm after courts overturned a police ban, citing legal right to freedom of assembly. ICA/Expat Media
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