Saudi Arabia’s foreign affairs ministry summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Swedish embassy in the Kingdom over the desecration of the Holy Quran in the Nordic country.

The ministry delivered a protest note to him that contained the Kingdom’s request to the Swedish authorities to take all “necessary and immediate” measures to stop the shameful acts that violate all religious teachings, laws and international norms.

A Sweden-based Iraqi refugee desecrated the Holy Quran but left the protest without burning it, just weeks after he set fire to pages of the holy book outside Stockholm’s main mosque.

Muslim states have condemned the incident and urged the Scandinavian country to avoid such acts from happening.

In reaction to the incident, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani “instructed the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad to leave Iraqi territory”.

Protesters set fires within the compound of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and clashed with riot police, prompting an emergency meeting with the prime minister.

On Friday, Sweden announced that the staff and operations of its embassy in Iraq had been relocated to Stockholm.

“The embassy’s operations and its expatriate staff have been temporarily relocated to Stockholm for security reasons,” the foreign ministry told AFP in a statement.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called upon the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the civilised world to come forward and take steps to put an end to such abominable practices.

“No civilised society will allow the desecration of the holy personages, symbols and the Divine Books in the name of freedom of expression,” he tweeted and added that attitudes that triggered “religious hatred, promote violence and encourage terrorism and militancy” need should be checked.

“We should not let a handful of Satanic characters undermine our shared values of peace, tolerance, pluralism.”

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that such disturbing acts were both legally and morally reprehensible. She added that permission to carry out premeditated and provocative acts of religious hatred cannot be justified under the guise of freedom of expression, opinion and protest.

Pakistan called for an unequivocal condemnation of Islamophobic acts.

“We expect Swedish authorities to take all measures necessary to stop such acts of hatred and incitement. Pakistan’s concerns about the latest incident are being conveyed to the Swedish authorities,” she said at a weekly media briefing on Friday.

(With input from AFP)