[Iraq News] Protesters set fire to Sweden’s embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad early Thursday, an AFP journalist said, ahead of a planned burning of a Koran in Sweden.Swedish authorities approved an assembly to be held later Thursday outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, where organisers plan to burn a copy of the Koran as well as an Iraqi flag.
Iraqis have been angered by events in Sweden, and Thursday’s protest in Baghdad was organised by supporters of the turbulent religious leader Moqtada Sadr.
Some protesters raised copies of the Koran into the air, while others held portraits of Mohammed al-Sadr, an important religious holy man and the father of Moqtada Sadr.
"We are mobilised today to denounce the burning of the Koran, which is all about love and faith," protester Hassan Ahmed told AFP. "We demand that the Swedish government and the Iraqi government stop this type of initiative."
"We didn’t wait until morning, we broke in at dawn and set fire to the Swedish embassy," a young demonstrator in Baghdad told AFP on Thursday, before chanting Moqtada’s name.
Sweden’s foreign ministry told AFP its embassy staff in Baghdad were "safe" following the incident.
"The Iraqi authorities are responsible for the protection of diplomatic missions and their staff", the ministry said, adding that attacks on embassies and diplomats "constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention".
Several trucks to extinguish the fire had arrived at the embassy, where skirmishes between Iraqi security forces and demonstrators had broken out, an AFP photographer said.
It was not immediately clear whether the embassy was empty at the time of the attack or if staff had been evacuated.
— ’URGENT INVESTIGATION’ —
Iraq’s foreign ministry condemned the embassy torching and called on security forces to identify those responsible.
"The Iraqi government has instructed the relevant security services to conduct an urgent investigation and take all necessary measures to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators," the ministry said in a statement.
Swedish media reported that Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, had organised the event in Stockholm on Thursday.
Salwan burned a few pages of a copy of the Koran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on June 28 during Eid al-Adha
...a major Moslem holiday, marked by animal sacrifice and ritual rioting..., a holiday celebrated by Moslems around the world.
That incident prompted supporters of Moqtada, an influential religious leader and political dissident in Iraq, to storm the Swedish embassy in Baghdad the following day.
Moqtada has repeatedly mobilised thousands of demonstrators in the streets.
Iraq severs diplomatic relations with Sweden
[Iraq News] The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, ordered on Thursday to withdraw the Iraqi charge d’affaires in Stockholm and expel the Swedish ambassador to Iraq, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.The Iraqi government issued on Thursday a strongly worded statement threatening to sever diplomatic relations with Sweden if it allowed the Koran burner to repeat his act.
The Iraqi government mentioned in the statement that it informed the Swedish government of its intention to sever diplomatic relations if burning copies of the Holy Koran was repeated.
The decision was taken during an urgent meeting with senior military and security officials, chaired by the Iraqi Prime Minister on Thursday morning to discuss permission granted by the Swedish government to an individual to burn the Holy Book later in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, in addition to setting fire the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
The meeting condemned the setting of fire to the Swedish embassy by protesters, considered the action a security breach that must be dealt with immediately, and stressed that those responsible for the security of the embassy must be held accountable.
Iraqi protesters set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad early Thursday ahead of a planned burning of a Koran in Sweden, AFP reported.
Swedish authorities approved an assembly to be held later Thursday outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, where organizers plan to burn a copy of the Koran as well as an Iraqi flag, AFP added.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
#Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council Orders Arrest of 20 Suspects Involved in #Swedishembassy #attack #sweden #quranburning #quran #السفارة_السويدية pic.twitter.com/EmVXgBuPRr
— SHAFAQ News (@Shafaqnews) July 20, 2023
KRG suspends representation in Sweden over Quran desecration