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Last Updated: July 28, 2023, 13:22 IST
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday he was extremely worried about the consequences if more such demonstrations go ahead. He told Swedish news agency TT that further requests for protests. (Reuters)
Swedish Prime Minister expresses extreme worry over potential consequences of further demonstrations involving the desecration of the Koran amid growing Muslim anger
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is “extremely worried” about the consequences if more demonstrations go ahead in which the Quran is desecrated, he said on Thursday, amid growing Muslim anger at a series of attacks on Islam’s holy book.
On June 28 this year, two men stood outside a mosque in the Swedish capital Stockholm and set fire to a Quran. The move was the latest incident of Islam’s holy text being burned in the country.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday he was extremely worried about the consequences if more such demonstrations go ahead. He told Swedish news agency TT that further requests for protests where Qurans could be set alight had been filed with police.
He said: “If they are granted, we are going to face some days where there is a clear risk of something serious happening. I am extremely worried about what it could lead to.”
Demonstrations against the Quran burning have been staged in a number of countries. On Monday, thousands took to the streets in Yemen holding up copies of the Muslim holy text, and denouncing Sweden and Denmark.
Rules on freedom of speech in both countries mean that burning the Quran is legal, though both governments have said they deplore the act.
On Saturday, thousands in the Iraqi capital Baghdad also demonstrated. That came after a man set fire to a book purported to be the Quran on a square across from the Iraqi, Egyptian and Turkish embassies in Copenhagen.
Sweden’s embassy in the city was stormed and set ablaze by protesters last week, who were angered by a planned Quran burning. Turkey has also publicly condemned the burnings, and could create a diplomatic issue for Sweden, whose application for NATO membership Ankara can still veto.
Stockholm struck a deal with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month at a NATO meeting in Lithuania. Sweden has accused other countries – such as Russia – of manipulating the crisis to damage its interests and its bid to join NATO.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)
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