Prince Faisal calls Swedish FM, reiterates Saudi disapproval of Qur'anic burnings
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Riyadh: The Saudi foreign minister reiterated the Kingdom's "total rejection" of all attempts to harm the Holy Qur'an during a phone conversation with his Swedish counterpart on Friday, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan urged Sweden to take action to deter extremist crimes, saying that several instances of the Muslim holy book being set on fire served to "hatred and limit efforts for dialogue between peoples."
Tobias Billstrom of Sweden criticised and condemned attempts to burn copies of the Qur'an, stating that his nation would work to put an end to such actions that disrespect religions and their holy texts, Arab News reported.
He voiced his "deep regret" over what he called the "open exploitation" of the freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by the Swedish constitution, according to SPA.
Extremists have recently set copies of the Qur'an on fire outside the embassies of nations with a large Muslim population as well as mosques in Sweden and Denmark.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Saturday in which it strongly denounced the recent actions of hate groups.