PM Barzani condemns burning Quran; calls for preserving coexistence
He called for respecting all the holy books and preventing the disruption of coexistence.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday condemned the burning of Islam's holy book in Sweden a day earlier by an Iraqi man.
Salwan Momika, 37, a member of the Iraqi diaspora community in Sweden, set a number of the Quran’s pages ablaze on Wednesday, as Sunni Muslims around the world marked the first day of the Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) holiday.
"I condemn burning the holy Quran," Prime Minister Barzani said in a tweet, calling for respecting all religious texts and preventing the disruption of coexistence.
The act has drawn severe condemnation from Muslims in Iraq and other parts of the world.
The Iraqi government had slammed the Swedish authorities for permitting the man to burn the holy book, describing the act as "dangerous provocation."
Iraq’s firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Thursday called to declare the Swedish Ambassador to Iraq a persona non grata and sever ties with Sweden, which he described as “hostile to Islam” and a supporter of “immorality”, according to a statement he shared on his Twitter account.
Fayaq Zedan, the head of Iraq’s Judicial Council, directed the public prosecutor to take the necessary legal measures to “extradite” the Iraqi national from the Nordic country.
