Open channels between Baghdad and Stockholm to extinguish the “burning of the Qur’an” crisis
Open diplomatic channels between Iraq and Sweden are trying to extinguish the fuse of the crisis that erupted after burning a copy of the Qur’an twice this month, although Iraqi officials confirmed that “the return to normal relations will only happen after Sweden takes steps to prevent the recurrence of the act and hold the perpetrator accountable.” The Iraqi refugee in Sweden, Silwan Momika.
The Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani, told ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions from the European Union that Iraq “is keen to renounce hate speech and extremism, which is embodied in practices offensive to the sanctities and beliefs of peoples, including the incident of abuse and transgression of the sanctity of the Holy Qur’an and the Iraqi flag.”
Al-Sudani stressed that “the government is serious and committed to protecting and achieving the security and safety of all diplomatic missions accredited in Baghdad, in accordance with what was stated in the Vienna Convention on Regulating Diplomatic Relations.”
For its part, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a written response distributed to local media, that it “strongly condemns the atrocities committed by a number of people during the demonstrations (…), the Swedish government is very concerned about the desire of a number of extremists and provocateurs to create a gap between Muslims and non-Muslims in Sweden.”
The ministry confirmed that “because of the nature of the system in Sweden, and the mechanism of separation of powers, the police allow public gatherings, but they do not allow insulting a copy of the Qur’an or any other religious book,” while it did not comment on the possibility of handing over the man who burned the Noble Qur’an to the Iraqi government.
However, a senior official in the Iraqi government told Asharq Al-Awsat that the authorities did not find another way but to leave the Swedish ambassador to Iraqi lands and withdraw the Iraqi charge d’affaires from Stockholm, indicating that “failing to do so will lead to an internal political crisis.”
However, the senior official says, Sweden has so recklessly allowed someone to burn the Koran, without realizing the impact this would have on Muslim countries, and millions of Muslims around the world.
The official pointed out that talking about restoring relations with Sweden is not in the hands of Iraq. “We are just waiting, and Stockholm must take the initiative to take steps, the least of which is an official apology for what happened, and it is likely that we will go to the trial of the man (Sloan Mumica), who burned the Qur’an, as well as a guarantee that the offensive incident will not be repeated.”
It is clear that the offices of Iraqi diplomats are upset by the storming and storming of the Swedish embassy, last week.
A number of ambassadors told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government has sent messages of reassurance to the European community that the incident cannot be repeated, even with the presence of political voices pushing the authorities to focus more on “the core of the issue, which is the burning of the Holy Qur’an”.
But the government official said, “It is not in Iraq’s interest to break with a member of the European Union, but there is not much to do in light of this sensitive crisis, except to wait for things to be rectified by the party that allowed Muslims to be insulted on its lands.”
A number of Islamic countries witnessed protests after the authorities in Denmark and Sweden allowed the burning of copies of the Noble Qur’an under the pretext of “protecting the right to freedom of expression.” Protesters in Iraq set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday.
Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Saturday, at the invitation of parties participating in the government, to protest the burning or tearing up of the Qur’ans in Sweden and Denmark.
In a related context, two people burned a copy of the Noble Qur’an in front of the Iraqi embassy in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, today, Monday. Which increases the possibility of a deterioration in relations between the two countries.
The two people belong to an extreme right-wing group calling itself the “Danish Patriots”, which carried out a similar incident last week, broadcasting it directly on the social networking platform “Facebook”, according to Reuters.
Iraq condemned the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran in front of its embassy in Copenhagen, and said that the diplomatic staff of the Danish mission in Baghdad left Iraq after protests there. The Iraqi News Agency quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that it is calling on the authorities of countries in the European Union to “quickly reconsider what is called (freedom of expression) and the right to demonstrate.” A spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said, “The diplomatic staff of the Danish mission in Baghdad left Iraqi territory two days ago.” He did not elaborate on the exact reason or timing for the crew’s departure, and the Danish government has not yet commented.
2023-07-24 16:45:23
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