Global Islamic body announces emergency meeting next week to discuss burning of Quran copy in Sweden

By Mahmut Geldi

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday announced an emergency meeting next week to discuss the burning of a Quran copy in Sweden.

The OIC said in a statement that the meeting has been called by Saudi Arabia in its capacity as chair of the Islamic Summit Conference and will take place at the OIC headquarters in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

The emergency meeting will also go over the procedures for dealing with the fallout from the Quran burning incident, it added.

Earlier in the day, the OIC strongly condemned the burning of a copy of the holy Quran by a Swedish extremist.

The OIC said in its earlier statement that such an act contradicts "international efforts to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and renunciation of extremism."

On Wednesday, a person identified as Salwan Momika burned a copy of the Muslim holy book under police protection in front of the Stockholm Mosque.

The extremist's provocative act was timed to coincide with Eid al-Adha, one of the major Islamic religious festivals celebrated by Muslims worldwide.

The “crime” of burning a Quran copy elicited widespread condemnation from the Islamic world, including Türkiye, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Senegal, Morocco, and Mauritania.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar