Union boss calls winter fuel payments cut 'cruel'
world1 day ago
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Monday voiced "disappointment" with the response by Sweden and Denmark to a spate of holy Quran burnings that have sparked outrage across the Middle East.
Secretary-general Hissein Brahim Taha called on both countries to prevent Quran desecration and "expressed his disappointment that no measures were taken in this regard so far", the 57-member, Jeddah-based body said in a statement after the opening session of an extraordinary meeting on the issue.
"It is unfortunate that the concerned authorities claiming freedom of expression continue to provide licences to repeat these acts contrary to international law, and this leads to a lack of respect for religions," Taha said in remarks during the meeting.
Around the time Taha was speaking, two men set holy Quran alight in the latest such protest in Stockholm.
One of the men, Sweden-based Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, also burned pages of holy Quran outside Stockholm's main mosque in late June and, earlier this month, stomped on holy Quran outside the Iraqi embassy.
In Denmark, far-right group Danske Patrioter last week posted a video in which a man is seen desecrating and burning what appears to be holy Quran and trampling an Iraqi flag.
The incidents have stoked unrest in Iraq, where hundreds of demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy earlier this month and set fires within the compound.
The Danish Refugee Council has said its office in the southern Iraqi city of Basra came under "armed attack" in response to the Danske Patrioter video.
Governments across the region have also expressed their outrage.
Iraq expelled Sweden's ambassador and Iran said it would not allow a new Swedish ambassador into the country.
Saudi Arabia has in recent weeks summoned Swedish and Danish diplomats to deliver protest notes denouncing "disgraceful" acts against holy Quran.
Ahead of Monday's OIC meeting, both Sweden and Denmark reached out to try to calm tensions.
On Thursday, Taha received a phone call from Sweden's foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, who said Stockholm rejects acts that insult holy Quran and wants to maintain good relations with OIC members, the organisation said in a statement.
On Sunday, Taha received a call from Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who also "condemned" insults to holy Quran and said his government was "studying this issue with great interest", the OIC said.
ALSO READ:
Union boss calls winter fuel payments cut 'cruel'
world1 day ago
More than 540 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in Wajima in the 72 hours to Sunday morning — the heaviest continuous rain since comparative data became available in 1976
world1 day ago
Heavy rains flood Gaza displacement camps
world1 day ago
Opposition politicians from the left say they will challenge Barnier's government with a no-confidence motion, with far-right politicians also slamming its composition
world1 day ago
Labour to make parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from the first day on the job, although probation periods would remain in place
world1 day ago
Incumbent Wickremesinghe knocked out of race
world1 day ago
It was a methane gas explosion in two blocks of the mine and 69 workers were there at the time
world1 day ago
Lebanon's health ministry said at least 14 people died in the attack and the toll was expected to climb
world2 days ago