Arab world calls Swedish group's Qur'an burning plan a provocation

Jeddah: The Arab world called Sweden's notorious far-right group Stram Kurs's decision to go ahead with its plans to burn the copies of the Qur'an during the month of Ramadan, a provocation with the intention to incite bigotry against Muslims.

In addition to the condemnation of Stram Kurs's plans by Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia and Qatar, among others, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Muslim World League, and the Arab Parliament, the legislative body of the Arab League have also raised their voice.

Reacting to the Stram Kurs's plan, Saudi Arabia said it is a deliberate attempt to abuse the Holy Qur'an as a provocation and incitement against Muslims by some extremists in Sweden.

In a statement released by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kingdom said instead of creating an atmosphere of tolerance, a culture of dialogue and religious coexistence, the group seemed trying to increase the division in society.

The Kingdom stressed the importance of renouncing hatred, extremism and exclusion, while also promoting efforts to prevent abuses against all religious groups and holy sites.

Stram Kurs is an organisation founded by Danish-Swedish lawyer and far-right politician Rasmus Paludan in 2017.

Meanwhile, Swedish police claimed the arrest of 40 people in connection with the violence that broke out in Norrkoping, Linkoping, Rinkeby, Malmo, Orebro, and the capital Stockholm over the weekend when the police tried to prevent the Qur'an burning from taking place.

The controversy began on April 15 when Paludan shared a picture with his 4,700 Instagram followers of himself holding a book that appears to be burned at the corners. The caption reads: "Qur'an burning in Rinkeby."