Somalia strongly condemns Quran burning in Sweden

Somalia's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Swedish authorities for allowing an extremist to burn a copy of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in front of Türkiye's Embassy in Stockholm.

"Allowing this hateful act that insults Islamic sanctities and values is completely unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement issued early Monday.

Mogadishu said the burning of the Quran represents a blatant violation of religious sanctities and a provocation to the feelings of Muslims all over the world.

"It is nothing but a demagogic practice that promotes hatred and racism and serves the agendas of extremism and terrorism," read the statement.

Somalia called on Sweden to take strong measures against the rising tide of hatred against Muslims and urges all actors in the international community to shoulder their responsibilities in curbing Islamophobia.

"Somalia affirms the position of the Federal Republic of Somalia calling for the importance of spreading the values of dialogue, tolerance and coexistence and rejecting hate speech and violence, and renews the importance of respecting religious symbols, and refraining from provoking hatred and fueling strife through abuse and distortion of religions, sanctities and Islamic rituals," the statement said.

Rasmus Paludan, the leader of the Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party, under the protection of police and with permission from the government, burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on Saturday, prompting wide condemnation from the Arab and Muslim nations.