Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, vehemently denounced the Swedish authorities' decision to once again permit an extremist to burn a copy of the Holy Quran in Stockholm. He deemed this abhorrent act an intolerable affront to the sentiments of Muslims worldwide — a grave provocation that cannot be condoned.
Gamal Roshdy, the spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said that Mr. Aboul Gheit had issued a prior warning several weeks earlier regarding the repercussions of permitting the Swedish authorities to engage in such provocative deeds that fuel extremist ideology. Roshdy cited an instance where an extremist burned the Iraqi flag, a highly provocative act that inflamed Iraqi national sentiment.
The spokesperson relayed Mr. Aboul Gheit's resolute stance that leniency towards hate speech and extremism does not align with the principles of freedom of opinion, expression, and tolerance. Mr. Aboul Gheit further emphasised that conflating these notions only serves to perpetuate the cycle of extremism and violence, emboldening those who eagerly await an opportunity to disseminate their poison and promulgate their pernicious ideologies.
