JEDDAH — The OIC convened an open-ended Extraordinary Meeting of the OIC Executive Committee at its headquarters here on Tuesday to express the organization’s common stance against the recent desecration of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark as well as to discuss possible actions that could be taken by the OIC against the perpetrators of the despicable Islamophobia attacks.

During the meeting, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha reiterated his dismay at the provocative acts of the far-right activists, emphasizing that such actions are criminal acts perpetrated with the main intention to target Muslims, to insult their sacred religion, values, and symbols. He said that the relevant governments must take severe counter-measures, especially because such provocations have been committed repeatedly by far-right extremists in their countries.

The OIC secretary general stated that the intentional act of desecrating the Holy Qur’an and insulting Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) must not be seen as just an ordinary incident of Islamophobia. He said such an act is a direct insult to the entire 1.6 billion Muslim population. Brahim Taha called all stakeholders to take firm action so that a similar provocation will not reoccur in the future. — SPA