OIC Calls for Collective Measures to Prevent Quran Desecration

The 57-member body met at its headquarters in Jeddah. SPA
The 57-member body met at its headquarters in Jeddah. SPA
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OIC Calls for Collective Measures to Prevent Quran Desecration

The 57-member body met at its headquarters in Jeddah. SPA
The 57-member body met at its headquarters in Jeddah. SPA

The Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation has called for collective measures to prevent acts of desecration of the Quran.

The 57-member body met at its headquarters in Jeddah to respond to Wednesday’s incident in which a man living in Sweden set several pages of the Quran alight.

The OIC urged member states to “take unified and collective measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the” Quran, according to a statement released after the extraordinary meeting.

"We must send constant reminders to the international community regarding the urgent application of international law, which clearly prohibits any advocacy of religious hatred," OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha said.

The Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the OIC, Dr. Saleh bin Hamad Al-Suhaibani, in the Kingdom's speech, expressed high appreciation for the active attendance “to discuss the blatant provocative actions and the repeated despicable acts of attacking the sanctity of the Quran in Sweden.”

Dr. Al-Suhaibani said: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of these repeated despicable acts and stresses that these hateful acts cannot be accepted under any justification as they clearly incite hatred, exclusion, and racism.”

“The Kingdom calls for harmony, peace, and rapprochement. These acts directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejection of extremism, and undermine the principles of mutual respect necessary for relations among peoples and states,” he added.



Saudi FM Receives Moldovan Counterpart, ICRC President

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah welcomes Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popsoi in Riyadh on Monday. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah welcomes Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popsoi in Riyadh on Monday. (SPA)
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Saudi FM Receives Moldovan Counterpart, ICRC President

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah welcomes Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popsoi in Riyadh on Monday. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah welcomes Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popsoi in Riyadh on Monday. (SPA)

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah received in Riyadh on Monday Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popsoi.

They reviewed bilateral relations and ways to strengthen them in various fields. They also tackled regional and international developments.

A general agreement on cooperation between the two countries' governments was signed, which aims to strengthen bilateral coordination on topics of common interest.

Also on Monday, Prince Faisal received President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Mirjana Spoljaric.

They reviewed aspects of cooperation in the relief fields and discussed regional and international developments and humanitarian efforts exerted towards them.