Iraq calls on Interpol to arrest Quran burner in Sweden
The Iraqi anti-Islam campaigner Salwan Momika outside Stockholm’s central mosque. Photo: Stefan Jerrevang/TT
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq called on the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on Thursday to arrest the Quran burner in Sweden and extradite him to Baghdad, according to Alsumaria News.
The Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq mentioned in a statement that it submitted an arrest warrant issued against the Quran burner in Stockholm, who is of Iraqi origin, to Interpol to arrest him.
The Iraqi statement explained that Salwan Momika, a refugee of Iraqi origin in Sweden, had burned a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque.
On June 28, Momika, 37, tore up and burned several pages of a copy of the Holy Book outside Stockholm’s central mosque, after the Swedish police granted him permission to do so according to a judicial decision.
The incident sparked a wave of anger in the Arab and Islamic Region.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, called on the Swedish government to hand over the person who burned a copy of the Quran in Stockholm to the Iraqi government to appear before an Iraqi court.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry mentioned in a statement that Hussein received a phone call last Friday from his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom, where they discussed the repercussions of the incident.