As fury against Islamophobia swept the Muslim world on Friday, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) increased its diplomatic initiative at the United Nations in response to the latest destruction of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
Turkey issued an arrest order for the perpetrators of the provocative act in Denmark, while Saudi Arabia, Iran, and several other nations summoned Swedish envoys to express their outrage over the Stockholm event.
Pakistan was part of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) delegation that met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and United Nations Security Council President Barbara Woodward on Thursday to express the Muslim world’s outrage.
Several ambassadors, including Pakistan’s Munir Akram, as well as the chargé d’affaires of Egypt, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and Mauritania, petitioned the UN head to prohibit such “abhorrent” conduct.
Ambassador Akram emphasized the necessity for Western countries to criminalize premeditated acts of provocation that could lead to violence in light of a resolution recently adopted by the Human Rights Council.
A Swedish protester who had planned to burn a Torah has changed his mind.
He also told the UN head that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation wants him to back a strategy to combat Islamophobia. The UN secretary-general has described the desecrations as “stupid” and “reprehensible.”
He agreed that all UN member nations should follow the Human Rights Council’s adopted decision. Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric Said thus in a Statement.
“The secretary-general expressed solidarity with the Muslim community, condemning acts of intolerance, violence, and Islamophobia,” Dujarric said.
The ambassadors then met with the United Kingdom’s July UNSC President, Barbara Woodward, to voice the OIC’s disapproval of the incident.
The act of desecration took place in front of Stockholm’s biggest mosque on the day of Eidul Azha in June, during a protest that was permitted by local authorities. The perpetrator was an Iraqi immigrant.
Hours after Iraqi protestors burned the Swedish embassy in Stockholm in response to authorities there granting permission for the event to go on, he did the same Islamophobic thing during another rally on Thursday.
Thursday saw the removal of Sweden’s ambassador, the recall of Sweden’s charge d’affaires, and the suspension of Ericsson’s business license in Iraq.
Middle Eastern superpowers Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, and Jordan all called Swedish embassies on Friday to express their outrage over Stockholm’s free speech-based approval of the anti-Islam marches.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, wrote to the UN secretary-general to demand that the organization “immediately condemn this action and take the necessary measures as soon as possible to prevent the recurrence of such acts.”
Turkish officials have urged their Swedish counterparts to take “dissuasive measures to prevent hate crimes against Islam and its billions of followers.” Ankara has threatened to block Sweden’s membership in NATO until it fulfills these demands.
After an incident in January in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, the Turkish justice minister said that Ankara had issued arrest warrants for Danish lawmaker Rasmus Paludan and nine other individuals.
Public demonstrations
On Friday, as Stockholm pulled its personnel out of Baghdad, demonstrators in the Iraqi and Iranian capitals came to the streets to condemn Sweden’s approval of anti-Islam protests.
After Friday prayers, hundreds of people gathered in Sadr City, Baghdad, the bastion of fiery preacher Moqtada al-Sadr, and chanted “Yes, yes to Islam, yes, yes to the Koran,” according to an AFP correspondent.
Some protestors in Tehran screamed “Down with the United States, Britain, Israel, and Sweden” while torching the blue and yellow Swedish flag and waving Iranian banners.
Dozens of protesters, most of them were dressed in black, gathered outside the Swedish embassy in Tehran under heavy security and called for the removal of the Swedish ambassador.
Several hundred Hezbollah supporters gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut, but rallies were held all around Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah movement, demanded that the Swedish diplomat be expelled.
After protestors stormed its embassy compound in a pre-dawn raid this week, Sweden decided Friday to withdraw its staff and activities from Baghdad, citing security concerns.
