OIC plans emergency meeting over Qur'an desecration in Sweden
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has decided to hold an emergency meeting over the recent desecration of the Holy Qur'an in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.
Reporting on Friday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the intergovernmental body's Executive Committee was to convene next week "under invitation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the President of the [OIC's] Islamic Summit" to discuss the act of sacrilege.
In a repeated and state-authorized instance of sacrilege against the Muslim holy book, two men stood outside the Stockholm Central Mosque during the incident on Wednesday and burned a copy of the holy book following a go-ahead given by a Swedish court.
The move was made to coincide with the Muslim festivity of Eid al-Adha, which marks the conclusion of the annual Hajj pilgrimage that is partaken by millions of Muslims from across the world.
"The meeting will be held in its (the OIC's) headquarters in [the Saudi port city of] Jeddah and will discuss the consequences of the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur'an in Sweden on the first day of Eid Al-Adha," the SPA said.
"The meeting next week is scheduled to discuss the measures to be taken against the heinous act and to adapt a collective position on the necessary course of action," the report added.
The decision by the OIC followed a phone call between Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha, during which the Iranian top diplomat proposed that the OIC's foreign ministers hold an emergency meeting at the earliest opportunity to address the desecration.
The act of desecration has opened the floodgates of protest across the Muslim world.
On Thursday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden's chargé d'affaires in the capital Tehran in protest at the blasphemous act committed against the Muslim holy book.
Also on Friday, Iran's President Ebrahim Raeisi said the Muslim world would never overlook the recent act of sacrilege against "the most valuable divine book" in a Western country that claims to defend free expression.
"An insult to our beloved Qur'an is an insult to all divine religions, humanity, and all divine values, which the Islamic society will not tolerate," he said.
MG
