2023-07-22 19:56:42
July 22, 2023
Baghdad / Obelisk Al-Hadath: Video clips on social media showed that Iraqi security forces fired tear gas to repel hundreds of protesters during attempts to reach the Danish embassy in Baghdad early on Saturday morning, after news of the burning of the Koran in Denmark.
The incident took place in the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, two days after demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy and set it on fire in protest against a plan to burn a copy of the Quran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm.
The Iraqi government condemned the attack on the Swedish embassy but also expelled the Swedish ambassador in protest at the plans to burn the Koran.
On Friday, a man in Denmark set fire to a copy of the Koran in a square across from the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen.
The incident was broadcast live on Facebook by a group calling itself the “Danish Patriots”. The video showed the book burning in a tinfoil bowl on the ground next to the Iraqi flag, and two people were standing nearby and talking.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen denounced what happened as “foolishness” on the part of a small number of people, telling the Danish Broadcasting Corporation “to offend the religion of others is a disgraceful act”.
“This applies to the burning of the Qur’an and other religious symbols… There is no other purpose than to stir up and spread division,” he added. He noted, however, that Denmark does not criminalize the burning of any religious books.
During an anti-Islam demonstration on Thursday in Stockholm, two protesters kicked a book they said was a Koran and tore some of its pages but did not set it on fire.
The incident prompted countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, to summon Swedish diplomats in protest.
On Saturday, Iran urged Denmark and Sweden to take measures to end repeated attacks on the Koran in the two countries, saying Muslims around the world were waiting for the desecration to stop.
There are no laws prohibiting the burning of the Qur’an in Sweden, Denmark, or Norway, given the legal protection of freedom of expression.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that those who commit the “crime of desecrating the Koran” should face the “harshest punishment” and demanded Sweden extradite them for trial in Islamic countries.
“From the point of view of the Islamic Republic, the Danish government is responsible for preventing offenses to the Holy Quran and Islamic sanctities, as well as prosecuting and punishing offenders,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani.
He added, in a statement carried by official media, that public opinion in the Islamic world was waiting for “practical action” from the Danish government.
The Danish Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment.
And Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian announced that with the end of the mission of the Swedish ambassador in Tehran, “by order of the President of the Republic, Ibrahim Raisi, the new Swedish ambassador who is supposed to arrive in Iran in the coming days will not be received, just as the new Iranian ambassador will not be dispatched to Stockholm until the Swedish government takes effective measures to protect the sanctity of the heavenly books and the Holy Quran.”
A Swedish government spokesman said telephone talks took place on Friday between the foreign ministers of Sweden and Iran, but declined to give details of the discussions.
The Iraqi presidency said in a statement, “At a time when we condemn the vicious attacks on the Holy Qur’an and provoking the feelings of Muslims, we call on international organizations and Western governments to stop practices of incitement and spreading hatred, whatever their pretexts.”
The statement added, “We call on our honorable citizens, political forces, and religious and social actors to be careful and not be drawn into the scheme of sedition.”
The statement also said that what is happening aims to “show our country as an unsafe country for foreign missions.”
Obelisk – follow-up – agencies
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