OIC mobilises UN response to Islamophobia in Sweden

The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) stepped up its diplomatic initiative at the UN over the latest desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden as outrage against Islamophobia spread across the Muslim world on Friday. Saudi Arabia, Iran and several other countries summoned Swedish envoys to express their indignation at the Stockholm incident, while Turkiye issued arrest warrant of the persons responsible for the provocative act in Denmark. A delegation of OIC countries, including Pakistan, called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Security Council’s President Barbara Woodward on Thursday to apprise him of the intense anger in the Muslim world. Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram, together with envoys of Egypt and Bangladesh as well as chargé affairs of Saudi Arabia and Mauritania, urged the UN chief to take action aimed at preventing such “abhorrent” acts. In the light of a recently-adopted resolution by the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Akram underlined the need for the Western countries to outlaw deliberate acts of provocation, which could lead to violence. Read more: Sweden Torah burning protestor abandons his plan He also conveyed to the UN chief that the OIC would wish him to adopt a Plan of Action against Islamophobia. The secretary-general called the acts of desecration as both condemnable as well as “stupid”. He agreed that the resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council should be implemented by all the member states, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general, said in a statement. “The secretary-general expressed solidarity with the Muslim community, condemning acts of intolerance, violence and Islamophobia which exacerbate tensions and contribute to discrimination and radicalisation,” Dujarric added. Later, the ambassadorial group also met the UNSC President for the month of July, Ambassador Barbara Woodward of the United Kingdom, to convey the OIC’s concerns over this outrageous act. In June, on the day of Eidul Azha in Stockholm, an Iraqi immigrant committed the act of desecration in front of the main mosque in the Swedish capital during a protest that was allowed by the local police. He repeated the Islamophobic act on Thursday during another protest, hours after the Iraqi protesters burnt the Swedish embassy in protest against permission granted by the Stockholm police for the event to go ahead. On Thursday, the Iraqi government expelled the Swedish ambassador, recalled its charge d'affaires in Sweden, and suspended the business licence of Swedish telecom giant Ericsson. On Friday, Middle East powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran, Qatar and Jordan summoned Swedish diplomats to denounce Stockholm's permission for the anti-Islam protests on free speech grounds. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a letter to the UN secretary-general asked him "to immediately condemn this action and take the necessary measures as soon as possible in order to prevent the recurrence of such acts". Turkiye, which could veto Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato), called on Stockholm to take "dissuasive measures to prevent hate crimes against Islam and its billions of followers". Ankara also issued arrest warrants for Danish politician Rasmus Paludan and nine other suspects involved in a similar Islamophobic act in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January, the Turkish justice minister said. Street protests Protesters took to the streets of the Iraqi and Iranian capitals on Friday to denounce Sweden's permission for anti-Islam protests, as Stockholm withdrew its staff from its Baghdad embassy. Hundreds of people gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City – the stronghold of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr – after Friday prayers, chanting "Yes, yes to Islam, yes, yes to the Koran", an AFP correspondent said. In Tehran, hundreds of protesters, waving Iranian flags and carrying copies of Islam's holy book, chanted "Down with the United States, Britain, Israel and Sweden" as some set the blue-and-yellow Swedish flag ablaze. Dozens of mostly black-clad demonstrators gathered outside Sweden's Tehran embassy amid tight security and demanded its closure and the expulsion of Sweden's ambassador. In Lebanon, Hezbollah supporters rallied across the country, with several hundreds in Beirut's southern suburbs. Hezbollah movement leader Hassan Nasrallah called for expulsion of the Swedish envoy. Sweden on Friday cited security concerns in a decision to relocate embassy staff and operations from Baghdad, after protesters stormed its embassy compound in a pre-dawn raid this week.