Iraqi protestors stormed Sweden embassy in Baghdad over re-occurrence of Quran burning

RELIGIOUS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Angry Iraqi protestors stormed Sweden embassy in Baghdad over Quran burning.

Aljazeera reported Iraq government also has expelled the Swedish ambassador only hours after the protest.

Protestors scaled the walls of the compound and set it on fire.

The Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, also recalled his country’s charge d’affaires in Sweden.

Iraq suspended the working permit of Swedish telecom company Ericsson on Iraqi soil.

The burning of the embassy was called by supporters of al-Sadr to protest the second planned burning of a Quran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday.

While protesters in Sweden kicked and partially damaged a book they said was the Quran, they did not burn it as they had threatened to do.

All embassy staff were safe, the Swedish foreign ministry press office also said in a statement, condemning the attack and highlighting the need for Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions.

However, Iraq announced it would sever diplomatic ties with Sweden if a second Quran burning takes place in the country.

Protesters have vowed to continue protesting “if any more burnings of the Quran happen.

Swedish media reported that Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, had organised the planned burning on Thursday.

Salwan also burned pages of a copy of the Quran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on June 28 during Eid al-Adha, a holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world.

That earlier incident also prompted supporters of Moqtada to storm Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad the following day.

The governments of several Muslim countries, including Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Morocco issued protests about the incident, with Iraq seeking the man’s extradition to face trial in the country.

Swedish police had granted Momika a permit in line with the country’s free speech protections, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over “agitation against an ethnic group”, noting that Momika had burned pages from the Islamic holy book very close to the mosque.