Saudi Urges Sweden to Take Action on Al-Quran Burners

Riyadh, MINA – Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan urged the Swedish government to take action against the extremist perpetrators of burning Al-Quran.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke to his Swedish counterpart by telephone on Friday and emphasized his country’s “total rejection” of all attempts to offend the Qur’an, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan said repeated incidents in which Muslim holy books had been burned contributed to “fueling hatred and limiting attempts at dialogue between people.”

In his response, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom condemned the attempt to burn copies of the Qur’an, and emphasized that his country would try to stop all acts that offend the religion and holy book of Muslims.

He expressed “deep regret” over what he called the “open exploitation” of the Swedish constitution regarding freedom of opinion and expression.

In recent weeks, extremists have burned copies of the Qur’an outside the embassies of Muslim-majority countries and mosques in Sweden and Denmark.

Last Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its strong condemnation of the hate group’s recent actions. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)