RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Tuesday that the Kingdom strongly condemned the burning of copies of the Qur’an by extremists. Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council via video link, Prince Faisal said nothing justified the burning of the holy book and that such acts incite hatred and racism. The council is holding an urgent debate to address recent Qur’an-burning incidents after a copy was burnt outside the Swedish capital’s main mosque on June 28, triggering a diplomatic backlash across the Muslim world. Prince Faisal added that the burning of the Qur’an “contradicts international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, and rejection of extremism.” The foreign minister said the repeated burning of copies of the book sacred to Muslims was “worrying.” An activist and supporter of Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML) party reads the Quran during an anti-Sweden demonstration in Karachi on July 9, 2023. (AFP) Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation hope to get a resolution passed on the issue on Tuesday or later in the week. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the desecration of the Qur’an amounted to the incitement of religious hatred. “We must see this clearly for what it is: incitement to religious hatred, discrimination and attempts to provoke violence,” Bhutto-Zardari told the council via video link. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said recent Qur’an burning incidents “appear to have been manufactured to express contempt and inflame anger; to drive wedges between people; and to provoke, transforming differences of perspective into hatred and, perhaps, violence.” He said that irrespective of the law or personal belief, “people need to act with respect for others.”