OIC to meet on July 31 over Quran desecration

Jeddah: The next foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will be held on July 31 to discuss the Quran desecration in Sweden and Denmark, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Iraq invited the OIC to hold an emergency foreign ministers’ meeting in Baghdad to discuss Quran-burning actions in Europe.
“Following a joint proposal of the foreign ministers of Iran and Iraq, and following the contacts of [Iranian Foreign Minister] Hossein Amirabdollahian with his counterparts in Islamic countries and sending messages to them and a conversation with the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and a letter sent to the Secretary General of that organisation, this organization agreed to hold an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers on Monday, July 31, and will discuss and investigate the issue of insulting the Holy Quran in Sweden and Denmark,” Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Kanaani as tell a news conference.
On Tuesday, members of the Danish Patriots extremist group held another Quran-burning rally outside the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen. Reuters reported on Tuesday that five members of the group also set a Quran on fire near the Egyptian embassy in Copenhagen.
On Monday, members of the Danish Patriots extremist group set fire to a copy of the Quran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen. The protesters had done the same thing last Friday. The action was broadcast on social media. The Danish government condemned it as a provocation.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said Tuesday that he discussed the Quran-burning incident with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, over the phone, having reiterated Denmark’s “condemnation of these shameful acts carried out by few individuals” and “emphasized that all protests must remain peaceful.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Ankara condemned the Quran desecration in Denmark, adding that the “fact that the Danish authorities persistently turn a blind eye to these attacks and provide protection to these provocations shows that they do not realize what terrible consequences they can lead to,” and urged Copenhagen to take measures to prevent these actions in the future.
Last week, the Swedish police gave Iraqi immigrant Salwan Momika the go-ahead to stage yet another Quran-burning protest. A previous act in June had sparked outrage in many Muslim countries.
Hundreds of Iraqi demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad ahead of Momika’s action, which took place last 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.
UNI/SPUTNIK