The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Swedish Ambassador to the UAE, Liselotte Anderson, on Thursday to deliver a note of protest over the public burning of a copy of the Koran outside the central mosque of Stockholm during the celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the UAE Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.
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“The UAE Foreign Ministry informed her of the state’s strong protest and condemnation of the Swedish government’s permission for extremists in the capital Stockholm to burn the book of the Holy Quran, as well as its evasion of its responsibility and disrespect for humanitarian values in this regard,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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The Emirati Foreign Office stressed “the importance of controlling hate speech and racism, which have a negative impact on the achievement of peace and security.” The ministry also declared the UAE’s opposition to “the use of free speech as a marketing tool for such heinous acts.”
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Aisha Al-Suwaydi, Director of the Department of European Affairs at the UAE Foreign Ministry, conveyed a note of protest to the Ambassador, which stressed the UAE’s “permanent rejection of all practices aimed at undermining the security and peaceful coexistence of people of all faiths.”
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The Swedish police allowed a protest action with the burning of the Koran at the main mosque in Stockholm on June 28 – the first day of Eid al-Adha. Prime Minister Ulf Hjalmar Kristersson said the police decision was “legal but inappropriate”. On the same day, the action took place: a man tore pages from the Koran, wiped his shoes with them, then put bacon in the book and set it on fire. About 200 people were watching, according to media reports, some shouting “God is great!” in Arabic in protest, one was detained by the police after trying to throw a stone at an “actionist”.
