BAGHDAD, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned Swedish authorities for allowing the burning of the Muslim holy book Quran on the first day of Eid al-Adha, Islam's major religious festival.
"Iraq strongly condemns and denounces the Swedish authorities' permission for an extremist to burn a copy of the holy Quran in a manner that gravely insults the religious sacred values," the ministry said in a statement.
These events will inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and constitute a "dangerous provocation" to them, the ministry added, appealing to the international community to shoulder responsibilities, put an end to such unacceptable acts, reject all forms of hatred and extremism and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Iraq's powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr also called for a demonstration in front of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and urged the government to expel the Swedish ambassador, according to the report of official Iraqi News Agency.
In Sweden's capital Stockholm, a person identified as Salwan Momika of Iraqi origin tore up and burned a copy of Quran in the presence of police in front of the Stockholm Mosque on Wednesday, according to Turkish media reports.
Momika, who came in front of the Stockholm Mosque in the Medbargareplatsen square, threw the Quran on the ground in front of the mosque, stepped on it, uttered insulting words against Islam and set it on fire despite the reaction of the people around, said the media reports.
Swedish police later charged the man with agitation against an ethnic or national group.
Faiq Zaidane, the head of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, said in a statement on Thursday that he had instructed the Public Prosecution Office to prepare the legal procedures to request the extradition of the "extremist" of Iraqi origin and to prosecute him in accordance with the Iraqi law.
Swedish police have recently rejected some applications for anti-Quran protests, but Swedish courts overruled police's decisions, saying they violated freedom of speech. ■
