Iraq calls on Sweden to extradite immigrant who burned Qur’an
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has called on Sweden to extradite the Iraqi man who publicly burned a copy of Qur’an outside a Stockholm mosque so that he could be tried according to the country’s laws.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein made the request in a phone conversation with his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom on Friday, the ministry said in a statement.
Hussein said that burning Qur’an does not fall within the framework of freedom of speech, and it rather encourages violence and fuels the flames of Islamophobia.
The Iraqi foreign minister emphasized that this heinous act, which is an insult to religious sanctities, has hurt the feelings of Muslims all over the world.
Hussein further called on the Swedish government to take the necessary steps to hand over the Iraqi immigrant to Baghdad to be tried according to the country’s laws.
Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahhaf also said, “A man who desecrated the Holy Quran is the citizen of Iraq. That is why we demand that the Swedish government extradite him to Iraq to face trial in accordance with the Iraqi law."
On Wednesday, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi immigrant stomped on the Qur'an before setting several pages alight in front of Stockholm's largest mosque. The insult to the Muslim holy book was made under the authorization and protection of the Swedish police.
The incident, coinciding with the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha and the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, drew the anger of Muslims from across the world.
Swedish Ambassador to Iraq Jessica Svardstrom was summoned to the Iraqi foreign ministry on Thursday. The ministry expressed its "resolute protest" over the incident, stressing that "legal justifications and freedom of speech considerations cannot justify desecration of holy objects."
Following the incident, several thousand Iraqis gathered near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in protest against the Qur’an burning and demanded the expulsion of the ambassador.
People in other Muslim countries also took to the streets in protest against the move.
The perpetrator of the insult told a Swedish newspaper late Thursday that he intended to repeat his protest in July.
Sweden has repeatedly permitted Qur'an burnings in recent years. In January, a Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist burned a copy of the Qur'an near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
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