Saudi Arabia summons Danish charge d’affaires, protests against Quran burning

Saudi Arabia has summoned the Danish charge d’affaires in the Kingdom over recent public display of Quran burning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday.

The Kingdom, the ministry, added, presented the Danish diplomat with a protest note that calls for halting such acts that “violate religious norms, laws and international norms.”

Saudi Arabia, the statement added, rejects of all actions that encourage and fuel religious hatred.

Public burning of the Quran in Sweden and Denmark has sparked outrage among many Muslim countries that have called on authorities in the respective nations to take serious measures to prevent such actions.

A group of anti-Islam activists have set fire to the Quran in front of the Iraqi, Egyptian and Turkish embassies in Copenhagen after an Iraqi immigrant to Sweden burned the Quran last month.

Last week, Saudi Arabia had also summoned the Swedish charge d’affaires in the country to condemn the burning and desecration of the Quran. The ministry also handed the official a protest note calling on the Swedish authorities “to take immediate and necessary measures to stop these disgraceful acts.”

On Thursday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) announced that an extraordinary virtual session for the Council of Foreign Ministers of Member States will be held on Monday, July 31.

OIC said on Twitter that the session was requested by Saudi Arabia and Iraq in order to discuss these repeated incidents.