Salwan Momika and Salwan Najem trampled on a copy of the Koran on Monday (July 31) before setting it on fire during a rally in front of Parliament in Stockholm, Agence France-Presse reported, as Salwan Momika had already done at the end of June during a rally in front of the main mosque in Stockholm.

As relations between Sweden and several countries in the Middle East have deteriorated after several desecrations of the Koran, the Swedish police on Saturday issued a permit for the demonstration, according to local media. Organizers told media they wanted the Muslim holy book banned in Sweden. “I will burn it many times, until you ban it,” Salwan Najem, one of the protest organizers, told the Expressen newspaper.

On June 28, Salwan Momika, 37, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, had already set fire to pages of the Koran in front of the Grand Mosque in Stockholm on the first day of Eid al-Adha, a holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world. He also stomped on and tore up a copy of the Muslim holy book on July 20 outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.

On Sunday, neighboring Denmark said it wanted to limit possible new protests planning Quran desecrations, citing the security concerns involved. According to the Danish Foreign Ministry, the protests have “reached a level where Denmark, in many parts of the world, is perceived as a country that facilitates the insult and denigration of cultures, [of] religions and [of] traditions of other countries”.

In late July in Denmark, the far-right Danske Patrioter movement posted a video of a man desecrating and burning what appears to be a Koran and stomping on an Iraqi flag.

“Rejection of any Islamophobic act”

Saudi Arabia and Iraq have called for an extraordinary meeting, due Monday, of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address the desecration of the Koran in Sweden and Denmark.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said on Monday that he had been in contact before the meeting with several of his counterparts from member countries of the organization. In a statement, Mr. Billström explained that he had informed them of the way in which permits to demonstrate are granted in Sweden and that the Swedish police take this type of decision completely independently.

“I have also reiterated that the government is very clear in its rejection of any Islamophobic acts carried out by individuals during protests in Sweden,” Billstrom added. Swedish police had previously stressed that the permits granted were only for holding public gatherings and did not cover what happens there.

Diplomatic tensions

The acts of desecration of the Koran were condemned by Al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious institutions of Sunni Islam, based in Egypt, and raised a wave of indignation and protests as well as diplomatic tensions in the Near East.

In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis invaded and set fire to the Swedish embassy. The Swedish ambassador was expelled from Iraq and Iran has made it known that it will not accept a new ambassador from the Scandinavian country on its territory.

The ostentatious destruction of Islam’s holy book “has heightened the risks for Sweden,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson noted in an Instagram post.