The changes state that any conventional attack on Russia, aided by a nuclear power, could be considered to be a joint attack
world3 days ago
Sweden's government on Sunday condemned this week's burning of some pages of Holy Quran outside Stockholm's main mosque, calling it an "Islamophobic" act, after an international Islamic body called for measures to avoid future burnings.
"The Swedish Government fully understands that the Islamophobic acts committed by individuals at demonstrations in Sweden can be offensive to Muslims," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn these acts, which in no way reflect the views of the Swedish government," it added.
The condemnation came in response to a call for collective measures to avoid future desecration of Holy Quran from the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The 57-member body met at its Jeddah headquarters to respond to Wednesday's incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the holy book and set several pages alight.
The OIC urged member states to "take unified and collective measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the" Koran, according to a statement released after the "extraordinary" meeting.
"The burning of the Holy Quran, or any other holy text, is an offensive and disrespectful act and a clear provocation. Expressions of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance have no place in Sweden or in Europe," the Swedish foreign ministry said.
At the same time the ministry added that Sweden has a "constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration."
Countries including Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco have summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest at the holy book burning incident.
On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is holding off sending its new ambassador to Sweden, Hojjatollah Faghani following the burning.
Swedish police had granted Momika a permit in line with free speech protections, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over "agitation against an ethnic group," noting that Momika had burnt pages from the holy book very close to the mosque.
The changes state that any conventional attack on Russia, aided by a nuclear power, could be considered to be a joint attack
world3 days ago
The country launched a probe in March 2021 into WhatsApp's privacy policy, which allowed data sharing with Facebook and its units, sparking global backlash
world4 days ago
This time around, Trump wants the Senate to give up that gatekeeping role and allow him to make 'recess appointments'
world4 days ago
Police allege the offences took place between 2001 and 2019 against 8 victims; the youngest was 17 at the time of the offence
world4 days ago
The two countries have a mutual defence treaty dating back to 1951, which could be invoked if either side came under attack, including in the South China Sea
world5 days ago
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger on Narendra Modi in Abuja on Sunday
world5 days ago
The titleholder's winning answer focused on using each individual's strengths
world5 days ago
The suspects would be interrogated jointly with the Shin Bet internal security agency, police said
world5 days ago