Protesters Storm Swedish Embassy in Baghdad over Expected Koran Burning
BAGHDAD/STOCKHOLM, July 20 (Reuters) – In the early hours of Thursday morning, hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad, setting it on fire. The protest was in response to an anticipated Koran burning in Sweden.
The embassy staff was unharmed during the incident, according to a source familiar with the matter. Swedish embassy officials in Baghdad have not yet responded to requests for comment, and the Swedish foreign ministry spokesperson has declined to comment.
The Iraqi government condemned the incident, stating that the security forces have been directed to conduct a swift investigation to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Thursday’s demonstration was organized by supporters of Shi’ite cleric Muqtada Sadr, who were protesting against the second planned Koran burning in Sweden in a matter of weeks. The information about the protest came from posts in a popular Telegram group linked to the influential cleric and other pro-Sadr media.
According to Swedish news agency TT, the Swedish police had granted an application for a public meeting outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday. The application mentioned a request to burn the Koran and the Iraqi flag.
The demonstration was expected to involve two participants, one of whom had previously set a Koran on fire outside a Stockholm mosque in June, as reported by TT.
Videos posted on the Telegram group “One Baghdad” showed people gathering around the embassy in the early hours of Thursday, chanting pro-Sadr slogans. Around an hour later, the embassy complex was stormed by the protesters.
Protesters chanted “Yes, yes to the Koran,” as smoke later rose from a building within the embassy complex. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
It remains unclear if there were any individuals inside the embassy at the time of the attack.
Late last month, Muqtada Sadr called for protests against Sweden and the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador following the previous Koran burning incident in Stockholm by an Iraqi man.
The Swedish man responsible for the burning was charged by Swedish police with agitation against an ethnic or national group. In an interview with a newspaper, he described himself as an Iraqi refugee seeking to ban the Koran.
The aftermath of the previous Koran burning saw two major protests outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, with protesters breaching the embassy grounds on one occasion.
Several Muslim countries, including Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Morocco, protested against the incident, and Iraq has requested the extradition of the perpetrator to face trial in the country.
The United States also condemned the incident but clarified that Sweden issuing the permit to hold the demonstration supported the freedom of expression and was not an endorsement of the action.
Reporting by Timour Azhari; Additional reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Writing by Timour Azhari; Editing by Tom Hogue and Lincoln Feast