Muslim leaders say Qur’an burning in Sweden fuels extremism
DUBAI: Muslims around the world have joined Saudi Arabia in condemning the burning of a copy of the Qur’an by an Iraqi national outside Stockholm’s largest mosque on Wednesday. \ Under a heavy police presence, Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old who fled to Sweden several years ago, on Wednesday stomped on the Qur’an before setting several pages alight in front of the mosque in the Sweedish capital. Police had granted him a permit for the protest in line with free-speech protections, but said later it had opened an investigation into the Qur’an burning which sparked anger across the Muslim world. It is not the first time such an act has happened in Sweeden. In January, a Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist burned a copy of the Qur’an near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, also triggering outrage in the Muslim world. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Momika’s protest was “legal but not appropriate,” and it was up to the police to permit it or not.The incident occurred as Muslims aro