Iraq threatens to cut diplomatic ties with governments allowing Quran desecration

The latest burning and desecration of the Quran in Sweden caused massive protests

Iraqis raise copies of the Quran during a protest in Baghdad on July 22. AP

Iraq on Sunday threatened to cut diplomatic ties with any government that allows the desecration of the Quran, the country’s top authorities said.

For the second time in weeks, an Iraqi man of Christian origin living in Sweden as a self-proclaimed atheist desecrated the Quran and Iraqi flags on Thursday in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.

Hours later, Iraq asked the Swedish ambassador to leave its territory and recalled its charge d’affaires from Stockholm.

Late on Sunday, Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al Halbousi and Supreme Court Chief Justice Faiq Zaidan met to discuss issues including the desecration of the Quran and the Iraqi flag.

“The presidencies have denounced during the meeting the intentional offence and the licences granted by Swedish authorities to desecrate the holy Quran and the Iraqi flag,” their statement read.

The leaders expressed their support to the government in its steps to cut diplomatic ties with Sweden or “with any country that doesn’t respect the Muslims' sanctities or supports any measure that leads to insulting sanctities and religions".

The latest burning and desecration of the Quran and the Iraqi flag in Sweden caused massive protests in Iraq, mainly by the supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr.

Those supporters broke into the Sweden embassy in Baghdad early on Thursday morning and set it ablaze.

On Saturday, they tried to enter the heavily fortified government complex known as the Green Zone, probably to reach the Danish embassy, as members of ultra-nationalist group Danske Patrioter burnt a copy of the Quran and an Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen.

Iraqi security forces controlled the situation.

The four leaders also stressed the “necessity of taking the needed measures to protect diplomatic missions”.

Widespread condemnation

After the second event in Stockholm and the one in Denmark, different Muslim and Arab countries summoned Sweden’s envoys.

On Sunday, the UAE strongly condemned the burning of a Quran in Denmark, calling on the Danish government to take responsibility to stop these actions, according to Emirati news agency Wam.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the importance of monitoring hate speech that harm peace and security, expressing its rejection of the use of freedom of expression as justification for such heinous acts.

The diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, Dr Anwar Gargash, chastised Sweden and Denmark, saying their "definition of freedom of expression falls in the mire of hatred and racism that is practiced in a licenced manner by provoking the religious feelings of peoples".

"Hate cannot be categorized in any way as freedom of expression", Dr Gargash said in a statement, underlining that the world needs to deepen "the concepts of tolerance and coexistence based on respecting religions and the beliefs of others".

Also on Sunday, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation announced the suspension of the status of Sweden's special envoy.

In its statement, the organisation of 57 Muslim-majority nations said that the suspension was due to the "granting by the Swedish authorities of licences that enabled the repeated abuse of the sanctity of the holy Quran and Islamic symbols".

The OIC decision came after the bloc's executive committee held a July 2 meeting following an earlier Quran-burning incident.

The committee asked the Secretary General to consider suspending the status of the special envoy from “any country in which copies of the holy Quran or other Islamic values and symbols are desecrated with the consent of the authorities concerned", according to Sunday's statement.

The organisation said it had sent a letter to Sweden's Foreign Minister, Tobias Billstrom, conveying the decision.

The OIC is set to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the desecration of the Quran in Sweden and Denmark, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. It did not give a date for the meeting.

The meeting, in response to two requests submitted by the ministry, will discuss the “most important collective actions and stances of the member countries”, the statement said.

The latest incidents “provoked the feelings of over a billion Muslims worldwide”, it said, describing the actions as "provocative and heinous practices against Islamic sanctities".