JEDDAH: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has called an emergency meeting of its executive committee in Jeddah next week to discuss the consequences of the burning of a copy of the Qur’an in Sweden this week.
The meeting will “discuss the measures to be taken against this heinous act and adopt a collective position on the necessary course of action,” a spokesman said.
There has been widespread outrage and condemnation in the Muslim and Arab world since Salwan Momika, 37, a refugee from Iraq, desecrated the Qur’an and set fire to its pages in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on Wednesday.
Countries throughout the Middle East and beyond denounced the burning, some recalled their ambassadors, and foreign ministries summoned the Swedish ambassadors to their countries to hear official protests.
The anger continued on Friday. Thousands of supporters of populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr held a protest in front of the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad to demand an end to diplomatic ties.
Protesters carried Iraqi flags and portraits of Al-Sadr and his father, also a prominent cleric, and chanted “Yes, yes to the Qur’an, Moqtada, Moqtada.”
The cleric had called for “mass angry protests against the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad” to demand the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador and the cutting of ties with Sweden.
Meanwhile, the man behind the row has threatened to do it again. “Within 10 days I will burn the Iraqi flag and the Qur’an in front of Iraq’s Embassy in Stockholm,” he said.
Momika said he knew his action would provoke reactions and that he had received “thousands of death threats.”
He denied that his actions constituted a “hate crime” or “agitation toward any group.”
