Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 1 / Trend E.Ostapenko /
After numerous consultations at the 15th session of the UN Human Rights Council, a draft resolution condemning the call for a so-called International Burn a Quran Day has been withdrawn from the session's agenda, the UN said.
The draft was withdrawn by its co-authors, the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
Instead of adopting the resolution, the chairman of the council on behalf of all its members, issued a statement condemning religious intolerance, including discrimination and the association of any religion with terrorism.
The international community must stand united against all forms of religious intolerance and take practical measures to combat such phenomena, the statement says.
"The council condemns the recent incidents of religious intolerance, prejudice, discrimination and violence that continue in all parts of the world," the statement went on.
The recent anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York underlined divisions in the U.S. In which society was divided into supporters and opponents of the construction of a mosque near the destroyed twin towers.
The pastor of a church in Florida, Terry Jones, called in September on parishioners to note the anniversary of the tragedy by burning of copies of the Muslim holy book, to "warn people about the dangers posed by Islam."
The action never took place.
However, despite numerous protests from the international community, opponents of the construction of a mosque near the site of the twin towers held few rallies to burn copies of the Quran.
Euronews reported that Pastor Bob Old and another evangelist burned two copies of the Muslim holy book in the courtyard of his home near Nashville. In addition, New Jersey resident Derek Fenton did the same near the site of the destroyed skyscrapers. In some other cities, including in front of the White House in Washington, some protestors defiantly pulled out pages from the Quran.
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