Riyadh: Saudi Arabia on Monday, July 31, condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran saying the act was unacceptable. It said that appropriate steps must be taken to prevent such incidents in future.
Saudi minister of foreign affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, said this while addressing the opening session of the extraordinary council of foreign ministers (CFM), the main decision-making body of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which groups 57 Muslim countries.
Prince Faisal renewed the Kingdom’s strong condemnation and described these actions as “disgraceful acts, a flagrant violation of all regulations and customs, and a violation of international efforts to spread tolerance, moderation and rejection of hatred.”
Prince Faisal called on the OIC member states to take practical and effective steps to combat these attacks in the future, noting that the OIC Charter emphasises protecting and defending the true image of Islam, confronting distortion of the image of Islam, and encouraging peace talk between civilisations and religions.
The minister stressed that freedom of expression should be around moral values instead of misusing them and destroying coexistence among peoples.
This OIC meeting comes amid international outrage over the burning of copies of the holy Quran in front of embassies of Muslim-majority countries and mosques in Sweden and Denmark.
On Wednesday, July 26, a group known as the “Danish Patriots” burned copies of the holy Quran outside the Pakistan embassy in Copenhagen.
On Tuesday, July 25, the group burned copies of holy books in front of Egypt and Turkey embassies in Copenhagen.
On Friday, July 21 and Monday, July 24, the group burned the holy book of Muslims in front of Iraq’s Embassy in Copenhagen.
Denmark and Sweden have repeatedly said they deplore the actions but cannot stop the protesters.
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