Kuwaiti parliament calls for ban on products from countries where Quran is burned

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also condemned the recent protest in Sweden

Kuwaiti members of parliament attend a session at the National Assembly in Kuwait City on July 11, 2023. AFP

Kuwait's parliament has called on the Trade Ministry to ban the sale of products made by countries where Quran burning has taken place.

An Iraqi immigrant to Sweden burned the Quran outside a Stockholm mosque last month, sparking outrage across the Muslim world.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Kuwaiti parliament also instructed the ministry to ban exports to countries that "violate Islam's principles".

The parliament also asked the ministry to take strict measures against those who trade in products from those countries that allow insults towards Islam and the desecration of the Quran. It called for deterrent diplomatic moves against those countries.

The Information Ministry was also asked to take action against websites and applications, including YouTube and TikTok, that abuse Islam, the parliament said.

Supermarket employees remove Swedish products from shelves in Kuwait City on July 1, 2023. Yasser Al-Zayyat / AFP

The UAE on Tuesday said it "resolutely condemns" the recent stunt in Stockholm.

A senior UN official said the act "appeared manufactured" to inflame anger. Pakistan called for a debate at the UN's Human Rights Council after the Quran-burning incident.

Swedish authorities have said they do not approve of the stunt, but allowed it to go ahead on the grounds of free speech.

Ahmed Al Jarman, the UAE's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, took the floor at the council on Tuesday to say that freedom of expression "implies duties and responsibilities".

The UAE "resolutely condemns the repeated, consistent acts of desecrating the holy Quran and disrespecting its sacred status," he told diplomats.

"My country also stresses the need to combat Islamophobia, to combat hatred and prejudices that exist against Islam.

"We are highly concerned about the rise in Islamophobia and the increased incitement to religious hatred, and the increased number of acts of desecration of sacred artefacts, including the burning of the Quran," Mr Al Jarman said.

Saudi Arabia also condemned the burning of the Quran.

"The incidents of the burning of copies of Quran contributes to the incitement of hatred and hostility, and abuses freedom of expression in a manner that is inconsistent with human rights," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said in a recorded speech to the council.

"Such acts are not acceptable under any justification. They incite hatred, exclusion and racism, and directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation and rejection of extremism. They undermine the mutual respect necessary for relations between peoples and states," Prince Faisal said.

He added that the the kingdom looks forward to adopting a proposed draft resolution on "combating religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence."

Speaking by video link, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the protests had occurred "under government sanction".

"We must see this clearly for what it is: incitement to religious hatred, discrimination and attempts to provoke violence," he said.

"It is important to understand the deep hurt that a public and premeditated act of the Quran's desecration causes to Muslims. It is an attack on their faith."

The UN's human rights commissioner, Volker Turk, said the incidents in Sweden appeared "manufactured to express contempt and inflame anger".

He said their goal was to "drive wedges between people and to provoke, transforming differences of perspective into hatred and perhaps violence".

"The abuse or destruction of the manifestations of our innermost beliefs can polarise societies and aggravate tensions," he said.

It was the second such case in months after a similar stunt outside Turkey's embassy in Sweden in January.

Swedish police said security fears were not sufficient grounds to curtail freedom of expression, after an earlier ban was struck down in the courts.

The two protests aggravated Turkey and threw fresh doubt on Sweden's bid to join Nato. However, the alliance on Monday said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to lift his veto.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the recent protest was “legal but not appropriate”. The government says it is considering whether to change the law.