Limited political support in Sweden to ban Koran burnings

There is limited
political will in Sweden to ban Koran burnings that have upset
large parts of the Muslim world and it would be complicated to
do even if there were backing for such a move, experts and
politicians said on Friday.
The Swedish Embassy in Baghdad was stormed and set alight in
the early hours of Thursday by supporters of Shi’ite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr in anticipation of a burning of the Muslim holy
book outside the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm, the latest of
several such acts in Sweden in the past few years.
Iraq later withdrew its charge d’affaires in Stockholm and
Sweden said it had temporarily moved its seconded embassy staff
and operations from Baghdad to Sweden for safety reasons.
Sweden’s laws, current politics and social traditions mean
such incidents are unlikely to be halted any time soon.
Swedish courts have ruled that police cannot stop burnings
of holy scriptures. While the two latest Koran burnings could be
tested in court for inciting hate, it is widely believed the act
is protected by the constitution’s far-reaching freedom of
speech laws.