Muslims in Iraq protest against Quran burning in Sweden for second day

RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Several thousand Iraqis gathered near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad Friday for a second day of protests against a Quran burning outside a Stockholm mosque that outraged Muslims around the world.

On Thursday, one group of protesters managed to penetrate the embassy and stay inside for some 15 minutes before leaving when security forces arrived.

On Friday, police closed off the street past the embassy with concrete blocks and the protesters gathered on a nearby avenue.

The demonstration was again organised by supporters of firebrand Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose movement is not part of the current Iraqi government but still commands huge influence.

The protest came a day after an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight in front of the capital’s largest mosque.

Swedish police had granted him a permit in line with free speech protections, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over “agitation”.

Sadr, in a statement read on his behalf by a cleric at the protest, warned that burning the Quran was “incitement to hatred” against millions of Muslims.

Smaller protests also took place on Friday in Iraq’s port city of Basra where hundreds gathered in response to Sadr’s call.