'Angry and disgusted' Pope Francis condemns decision to allow Koran book-burning stunt in Sweden that sparked rage in Muslim world
- Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi man, set fire to a Koran last Wednesday
Pope Francis condemned the burning of the Koran, in Sweden last week, saying it made him feel 'angry and disgusted' to see the Muslin holy book desecrated.
Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi national who fled to Sweden several years ago, put bacon in the pages of a copy of the holy book before stomping on it and setting several pages alight.
The head of the Catholic Church is the latest public figure to slam the protest, and also rejected the suggestion that it should be permitted in the name of free speech.
'Any book considered holy should be respected to respect those who believe in it,' the pontiff said in an interview in the United Arab Emirates newspaper Al Ittihad, published on Monday. 'I feel angry and disgusted at these actions.
'Freedom of speech should never be used as a means to despise others and allowing that is rejected and condemned.'
The head of the Catholic Church is the latest public figure to slam the protest, and also rejected the suggestion that it should be permitted in the name of free speech
Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi national who fled to Sweden several years ago, put bacon in the pages of a copy of the holy book before stomping on it
It came after several Muslim countries condemned Sweden for allowing the Iraqi man to burn a Koran outside Stockholm's main mosque on Wednesday - during the Eid al-Adha holiday and the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
These included Turkey, whose backing Sweden needs to gain entry to the NATO military alliance.
While Swedish police have rejected several recent applications for anti-Koran demonstrations, courts have over-ruled those decisions, saying they infringed freedom of speech.
On Sunday, an Islamic grouping of 57 states said collective measures are needed to prevent acts of desecration to the Koran and international law should be used to stop religious hatred.
The protest started a day after an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight in front of the capital's largest mosque (pictured: the protests today)
The Koran burning, coinciding with the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha and the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, sparked anger across the Muslim world.
Protesters spent days outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad last week.
'It's an insult to the Holy Koran,' said 47-year-old civil servant Nafia Wali Idriss. 'Freedom of expression must not clear the way for sectarianism.'
Friday's protesters chose their own bugbears to trample underfoot - photographs of Momika and the rainbow flag of the LGBTQ+ movement.
'No to homosexuality, yes to the Koran,' the demonstrators chanted.
The Koran burning, coinciding with the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha and the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, sparked anger across the Muslim world
'It's an insult to the Holy Koran,' said 47-year-old civil servant Nafia Wali Idriss. 'Freedom of expression must not clear the way for sectarianism'
The Iraqi government has called on Sweden to extradite Momika so he can be put on trial in his home country.
The foreign ministry also summoned Swedish ambassador Jessica Svardstrom on Thursday to hear a strong protest against her government's authorisation of Momika's protest.
Sadr movement official, Hakim al-Zamili, said the calling in of the ambassador was not enough and demanded 'more concrete measures'.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson distanced himself from Momika's protest today. 'This is a serious security question. There's no need to insult other people,' the right-wing premier said.
Momika told a Swedish newspaper late Thursday that he intended to repeat his protest in July. 'Within 10 days I will burn the Iraqi flag and the Koran in front of Iraq's embassy in Stockholm,' he told Expressen.
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