Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan reaffirmed on Tuesday his country’s rejection of “all attempts to disrespect the Holy Quran”, during a phone call he received from his Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan demanded “immediate actions to halt these extremist acts that try to denigrate the holy books and provoke the sentiments of Muslims around the world,” according to the Saudi Press Agency “SPA”.
The Saudi foreign minister explained that “extremists have exploited freedom of expression to incite hatred, and they do not only aim to criticize the Islamic religion, but their goal is to provoke and agitate Muslim societies, which may not serve Denmark on the international level, and the only beneficiaries of these practices are the extremists themselves.”
For its part, the Danish Foreign Ministry said via Twitter that Rasmussen had a “good” phone call with his Saudi counterpart discussing upcoming peace talks to be held in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Ukraine, and the minister confirmed “Denmark’s condemnation of burning copies of the Quran,” and emphasized on “exploring the possibility of intervening in particular situations.”
It should be noted that the Danish government said in a statement on Sunday that it is “exploring the possibility of intervening in incidents of burning copies of the Quran and other actions in which countries, cultures, and religions are insulted.”
The statement added: “Of course, this must be done within the framework of constitutionally protected freedom of expression, and in a way that does not change the fact that freedom of expression in Denmark has a very wide scope.”
