Sweden: Protester Says He Never Wanted to Burn Torah
Despite being given permission by Stockholm police to hold a three-person protest, the man said he had no intention of burning any books and instead threw a lighter to the ground.
"I never thought I would burn any books. I'm a Muslim, we don't burn [books]," broadcaster SVT cited the man as telling those gathered for the planned desecration.
The 32-year-old Ahmad A. said the real reason for the protest was to draw attention to the difference between freedom of speech and offending other ethnic groups.
"This is a response to the people who burn the Quran. I want to show that freedom of expression has limits that must be taken into account," explained the Swedish resident of Syrian origin.
"I want to show that we have to respect each other, we live in the same society. If I burn the Torah, another the Bible, another the Koran, there will be war here. What I wanted to show is that it's not right to do it," he added.
The planned Torah burning was due to take place just days after another man set fire to pages of the Quran, Islam's holy book, drawing widespread condemnation from Muslims worldwide.
The man who filed the request for Saturday's protest said the move was in response to the Quran burning outside a Stockholm mosque last month by an Iraqi Christian immigrant during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
After that incident, Swedish authorities said they had opened an investigation over "agitation against an ethnic group," noting that the man had carried out the burning very close to the mosque.
A similar protest by a far-right activist was held outside Turkey's Embassy in Stockholm earlier this year, complicating Sweden's efforts to convince Turkey to let it join NATO.
Several Muslim countries summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest at the Quran-burning incident, which led to an emergency meeting of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
On Wednesday, the UN's top human rights body overwhelmingly approved a measure calling on countries to do more to prevent religious hatred in the wake of the Quran burnings.
