The Koran crisis|The protests

Screenshot of Monday's meeting, which was held digitally. OIC  

The Koran crisis|The protests  

The IOC calls on Muslim member states to act against Sweden and Denmark 

After Monday's meeting, Sweden and Denmark are condemned by the 57 Muslim countries in the cooperation organization OIC, reports TT.  

The member countries are asked to act independently against "those countries where the Holy Koran is desecrated and burned", writes the organization in a statement.  

The OIC has also decided to protest the Koran burnings in the European Commission and in the UN. 

Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) in the Riksdag on 27 July 2023. Oscar Olsson/TT  

The Koran crisis The Swedish response  

Billström in letter to OIC: Disrespectfully desecrate the Koran  

The individuals and extremists who try to "sow a divide between Muslims and non-Muslims" should not be allowed to succeed. This is what Foreign Minister Tobias Billström writes to the Islamic Conference Organization OIC, which is discussing the Koran burnings on Monday. The text is referenced by Aftonbladet and SVT Nyheter, who have read the entire letter.  

The Swedish government "in no way supports Islamophobic views", writes Billström in the letter. He explains the Swedish freedom of expression and freedom of demonstration, but also says that the government is reviewing the order law due to the Koran burnings. He writes: 

"I completely understand that Muslims, in Sweden and in OIC countries around the world, are deeply offended by such actions. To desecrate the Koran, or any other holy scripture, is offensive and disrespectful.”

Dansk underrättelsetjänst: Ökat terrorhot i Danmark

A woman holds up a photograph of Dane Rasmus Paludan at a protest in Turkey in January, after he burned Korans in Sweden. Francisco Seco / AP  

 

Danish intelligence service: Increased terrorist threat in Denmark  

 

The terrorist threat against Denmark has increased after the Koran burnings. This is what the Danish security and intelligence service PET writes in an email to Danish TV2.  

 

The threat is still assessed as "severe", which is level four out of five. The level has been the same since March. But PET assesses that the Koran burnings "have intensified the terrorist threat within the level".  

 

"The recent Koran burnings in Denmark have resulted in considerable negative attention from, among other things, militant Islamists, which is important for the development of the threat picture," writes PET.  

 

In Sweden, the terror level remains at level three out of five, which means an increased threat. It is unchanged since 2016.