Police cordon off an area outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm after a Quran was burnt in January. AP
Police cordon off an area outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm after a Quran was burnt in January. AP
Police cordon off an area outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm after a Quran was burnt in January. AP
Police cordon off an area outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm after a Quran was burnt in January. AP

Sweden lifts Quran burning ban as five arrested over 'terrorist plot'


Tim Stickings
  • English
  • Arabic

A court in Sweden has lifted a ban on Quran-burning protests that angered Turkey, on the day Swedish officials had to sit on the sidelines as Finland joined Nato.

Judges ruled that fears of violent reprisals against Sweden did not justify a ban.

In a separate development, five people were arrested over a suspected terrorist plot amid "calls for attacks" after a Quran was burnt in January.

The case had "links to violent Islamist extremism", police said.

At Nato's headquarters in Brussels, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom would not speculate on the impact of the court verdict.

He said his country "thinks freedom of expression is important" but said it was "inappropriate to carry out something similar to this Quran burning".

Turkey's condemnation of the Quran burning outside its embassy in Stockholm added to its grievances about Sweden's bid to join Nato.

Turkey and Hungary have not yet ratified Sweden's application.

They approved Finland's bid last month and it became Nato's 31st member on Tuesday.

As diplomats welcomed Finland, they called for Sweden to be admitted in time for a Nato leaders' summit in Vilnius in July.

The UK called for a "swift accession" for Sweden that Finland called its "next goal". Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called on Turkey and Hungary to ensure they did not "spoil the Vilnius summit".

"Finland's membership is not complete without that of Sweden," Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said.

Turkey has demanded a tougher policy from Finland and Sweden towards Kurdish dissidents that Ankara regards as terrorists.

It said last month that Finland had taken "authentic and concrete steps" but that further talks were needed with Sweden.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in January that Sweden could not be admitted "as long as you allow my holy book, the Quran, to be burnt and torn".

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, left, marks his country's entry into Nato with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. AP
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto, left, marks his country's entry into Nato with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. AP

The burning of the Quran by far-right politician Rasmus Paludan led to international condemnation.

Police banned protests at the Turkish and Iraqi embassies, but the court struck down their orders on Tuesday.

The concerns raised by police were not "sufficiently concrete" to override the right to freedom of expression in Sweden, judges said.

The terrorism arrests arose from one of several investigations after anti-Swedish protests following the Quran burning, security police said.

Susanna Trehorning, a deputy counter-terrorism chief at Sweden's security police, said there had been calls for attacks on the country.

“The security police often need to intervene early to ward off a threat. We cannot wait for a crime to be completed before we act,” she said.

An attack on the country is not “immediately imminent”, police said.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Sweden on Tuesday he would ensure it joins the alliance.

Finland and Sweden hoped to join simultaneously after applying after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow condemned Finland’s accession as an "assault" on its security and national interests.

"This forces us to take countermeasures ... in tactical and strategic terms," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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What is the definition of an SME?

SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.

A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors. 

 

 

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