Iraq welcomes Danish move to ban Quran burning

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s foreign ministry on Saturday praised a Danish government decision to introduce a draft bill that seeks to ban burning the Quran over national security concerns after tensions rose domestically and internationally over repeated burnings of the Muslim holy book last month in Sweden and Denmark.

The Danish government on Friday presented a bill that would make burning a Quran an act punishable by fines or up to two years in prison. The legislation would be included in a chapter of Denmark’s penal code that deals with national security. 

In an exchange with his Danish counterpart, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein “praised the position of the Danish government and the legal step that it took by presenting a decision to criminalize the burning or insulting of the holy Quran and other books,” said ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf. 

Hussein expressed optimism about the legislation, pending parliament approval, and said that such burnings “fuel and perpetuate hatred between human societies and threaten peaceful coexistence,” as well as straining ties between Islamic and European countries. 

Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, while speaking to reporters, described recent Quran burnings as a “fundamentally contemptuous and unsympathetic act” that “harm Denmark and its interests.” 

“We cannot continue to stand by with our arms crossed while several individuals do everything they can to provoke violent reactions,” he said. 

The legislation would also apply to other religious books and symbols, such as the Bible and the Torah. 

Hundreds of protesters affiliated with Iraq’s powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in July clashed with security forces as they attempted to march on the Danish embassy in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, angry over the stomping on and burning of a Quran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen by a Danish ultranationalist group. 

Iraq’s foreign ministry at the time condemned the abuse of the Quran, saying it “cannot be placed in the context of the right to expression and freedom of demonstration.”

The Islamic holy book and the Iraqi flag were desecrated twice this summer in Sweden, drawing the ire of Sadr supporters and the Iraqi government, which expelled the Swedish ambassador and recalled its charge d’affaires from Oslo, after Swedish police gave a green light for a protest by an Iraqi refugee who burned a copy of the Quran and the Iraqi flag.