DANISH PROTESTERS BURN QURAN OUTSIDE IRAQI EMBASSY

In Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, two demonstrators burned a copy of the Quran in front of the embassy of Iraq.

The Quran was set it alight in a tin foil tray on Monday by a pair from a group calling itself Danish Patriots next to the Iraqi flag that was lying on the ground.

The European Union’s leaders were urged to “quickly reconsider so-called freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate” shortly after the incident, according to a statement from Iraq’s foreign ministry, which was carried by the country’s official news agency, INA.

The far-right, ultra-nationalist Danish Patriots held a similar demonstration last week and live-streamed the events on Facebook.

مرة اخرى

مجموعة دنماركية متطرفة تدعى Danske Patrioter تحرق القران الكريم والعلم العراقي بحماية حكومية وتغطية إعلامية في الدنمارك#حرق_المصحف #علم_العراق_خط_احمر#القران_الكريم pic.twitter.com/Kf4r9LF6Ov

— Hala madrid (@Sergabn) July 24, 2023

After last week’s incident, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen condemned it as an act of “stupidity” by a few individuals, telling national broadcaster DR: “It is a disgraceful act to insult the religion of others.”

“This applies to the burning of Qurans and other religious symbols. It has no other purpose than to provoke and create division,” he said. He noted, however, that burning religious books was not a crime in Denmark.

The tension between Muslim countries and the two Scandinavian nations intensified last month after a 37-year-old Christian Iraqi refugee in Sweden, Salwan Momika, burned pages of the Quran on the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha.

On Sunday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a coalition of 57 Muslim countries, suspended the status of Sweden’s special envoy over the string of Quran burnings, saying the decision was due to the “granting by the Swedish authorities of licenses that enabled the repeated abuse of the sanctity of the Holy Quran and Islamic symbols”.

Iraqi security forces repelled the protest 48 hours after the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was overrun and set alight in protest at a planned burning of the Muslim holy book in Stockholm.