Nasrallah Urges Muslim States to Expel Swedish Envoys
"We are saddened by what happened today – a new ugly act...," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Thursday, according to Lebanon's al-Ahed news website.
"What we witnessed is a provocation to the feelings of Muslims, and it is clear that whoever burned or desecrated the Holy Quran had the permission of the Swedish government, and he is the same person who burned the Quran some time ago," he added.
Earlier that day, an Iraqi refugee living in Sweden desecrated the holy book outside Iraqi embassy in Stockholm while the Swedish police guarded the event.
The act of blasphemy has sparked outrage among the world's Muslims.
Before the planned desecration, hundreds of Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, climbing its walls and setting parts of it on fire. Baghdad expelled Sweden's ambassador and recalled its envoy from Stockholm.
The extremist had also burned a copy of the holy book late last month with the approval of Sweden's authorities, triggering similar angry protests across the Muslim world.
The Hezbollah leader commended the Iraqi reaction as "a brave and wise act, and an excellent stance," and asked all Arab and Muslim countries to do the same.
"If we want the burning and desecration of the Holy Quran that happened in Sweden not to be repeated, then all Arab and Islamic countries must do what Iraq did," he said.
Nasrallah also appealed to people across the global Muslim community to show up in large numbers in the upcoming Friday prayers and protest outside mosques after the prayers to express their disapproval of the vile act of sacrilege.
"We should tell this to the entire world that we protect this Quran with our hearts and blood," he said.
"This is all our responsibility. The entire world should see how we embrace and read our scripture when it is subjected to desecration," the Hezbollah leader concluded.
Source: Agencies
