Algeria Reports Danish Minister’s Quran Apology
Algeria said on August 14 that Denmark’s foreign minister apologised for the recent Quran burnings by far-right extremists in Copenhagen.
A statement by Algeria’s Foreign Ministry, said that whilst on a phone call with Algerian foreign minister Ahmed Attaf, Lars Lokke Rasmussen condemned the burnings of the Quran in Copenhagen, according to Turkish news outlet Timeturk, August 14.
Mr. Rasmussen apologised for the acts as well as stressing that they were unacceptable and contrary to Denmark’s tradition of tolerance, the statement added.
Denmark has a growing Muslim population and just under 5% of the Danish population are Muslim a census recorded in 2020.
Denmark’s foreign minister also told Attaf that the Danish government is in the process of finishing a draft law aimed at making it illegal to burn religious books and would present it to lawmakers.
During the conversation, the two men also discussed preparations for an upcoming joint ministerial meeting between African and Northern European countries. The meeting is set to take place in Algeria on October 16-18.
The phone call with Denmark’s minister comes after Attaf’s trip to Washington last week to meet US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. The pair discussed the strengthening of ties with the North African country and the United States.
READ: Blinken meets with Algerian FM to discuss shared interests
In recent months there have been repeated acts of Quran burning, desecration, or attempts to do so by Islamophobic figures or groups, especially in northern European and Nordic countries. This has stoked outrage from Muslim countries and the world more generally.
The far-right in Europe has seen a sharp rise as many right-wing parties have campaigned on the issue of Islam and non-European immigration into their respective countries.
TIMETURK
