RIYADH: The Saudi foreign minister spoke with his Swedish counterpart over the phone on Friday during which he renewed the Kingdom’s “total rejection” of all attempts to offend the Holy Qur’an, Saudi Press Agency reported.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan said repeated incidents in which the Muslim holy book had been burnt contributed to “fueling hatred and limiting efforts for dialogue between peoples,” while calling on Sweden to take measures to stop extremist acts.
Sweden’s Tobias Billstrom condemned and denounced attempts to burn copies of the Qur’an, stressing that his country would seek to stop all acts that offend religions and their sacred books.
He expressed his “deep regret” over what he called “open exploitation” of the Swedish constitution regarding freedom of opinion and expression, SPA added.
In recent weeks, extremists have burnt copies of the Qur’an outside embassies of predominantly Muslim countries and mosques in Sweden and Denmark.
Last Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its strong condemnation towards the recent actions by hate groups.
