Algeria summons Danish and Swedish envoys over Koran protests

Algeria said Monday it had summoned the Danish and Swedish envoys to condemn recent desecrations of the Holy Quran in Copenhagen and Stockholm.

The foreign ministry said it had on Monday "summoned the Danish ambassador and the charge d'affaires at the Swedish embassy" to formally protest events in the two countries in which the Muslim holy book was burnt or stamped on.

Algeria also said it "firmly condemns these immoral and uncivil acts that target all that is sacred for Muslims the world over," a foreign ministry statement said.

It said it did not accept the argument that such protests were permissible in the name of freedom of expression. "These reprehensible acts run contrary to the values of tolerance and co-existence and only serve to revive hatred and Islamophobia," it said.