iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Mazzenga claimed another world record in the 90 and over age group this month when she ran the 200 metres outdoors in 51.47 seconds
KT APPDOWNLOAD
OIC suspends Sweden's special envoy over desecration of Holy Quran
The suspension was due to the granting by the Swedish authorities of licences that enabled the repeated abuse of the sanctity of the Holy Quran and Islamic symbols: Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Iraqis raise copies of the Holy Quran during a protest in Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday. — AP
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has suspended the status of Sweden's special envoy over a string of Holy Quran burnings in Stockholm that sparked anger and mass protests in a number of Muslim countries.
The organisation comprised of 57 Muslim-majority nations said on Sunday that the suspension was due to the “ granting by the Swedish authorities of licenses that enabled the repeated abuse of the sanctity of the Holy Quran and Islamic symbols.”
The holy book was burned or defaced during recent public demonstrations in the Swedish capital. An Iraqi man of Christian origin living in Sweden as a self-proclaimed atheist announced plans to burn the Holy Quran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm on Thursday.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's decision came after the bloc's executive committee held a July 2 meeting following an earlier Holy Quran-burning incident.
The committee asked the secretary-general to consider suspending the status of the special envoy from “any country in which copies of the Holy Quran or other Islamic values and symbols are desecrated with the consent of the authorities concerned,” according to Sunday's statement.
The organisation said it had sent a letter to Sweden's foreign minister conveying the decision.
A public burning of the Holy Quran in Denmark on Friday sparked more protests in Iraq, some of them violent. Protesters clashed with police as they attempted to storm the Green Zone in Baghdad where the Danish embassy is located, and in Basra, demonstrators torched facilities belonging to a demining project of the Danish Refugee Council.
Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday condemned the burning of the Holy Quran.
“Burning of holy texts and other religious symbols is a shameful act that disrespects the religion of others,” it said. “It is a provocative act that hurts many people and creates division between different religions and cultures.”
It added, however, that “freedom of expression and freedom of assembly must be respected.”
While many countries around the world still have laws criminalizing blasphemy, Sweden and Denmark do not, and burning of holy texts is not specifically prohibited by law.
More news from World
Fico was shot five times at close range on Wednesday; suspect is a 71-year-old former security guard at a shopping mall and author of three collections of poetry
This is Imran Khan's first public appearance since his arrest in last August in Toshakhana case
Consumer groups in Europe have alleged that the Chinese shopping app 'frequently leaves consumers in the dark about who they are purchasing products from'
The Dubai Ruler is accompanied by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice-President and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE
The government office could not immediately be reached for comment
Britain's queen follows in the footsteps of late Queen Elizabeth, who announced she would stop buying fur in 2019
UN agencies warn that the latest fighting has newly displaced nearly one quarter of the Gaza Strip's population this month