AHundreds of demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire in Iraq, protesting against the announced burning of the Koran in Schwandern. All employees of the embassy are doing well, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Sweden condemned the incident. The Iraqi authorities must protect the diplomatic missions, the ministry said. Iraq “strongly condemns” the arson attack on the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said. Security forces are instructed to quickly investigate the incident and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Videos on the Telegram channel “Ein Baghdad” showed how the demonstrators gathered around the embassy around 1 a.m. on Thursday and stormed the building complex about an hour later. “Yes, yes to the Koran,” chanted the demonstrators. Later videos showed smoke billowing from a building. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
The protest was called by supporters of the influential Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr ahead of the expected burning of the Koran in Sweden.
Koran burning in June
In June, Sadr called for demonstrations against Sweden and for the Swedish ambassador to be expelled after an Iraqi who had fled to Sweden burned the Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm.
The governments of several Muslim countries – including Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Morocco – protested the incident. Iraq demanded the man’s extradition.
Swedish news agency TT reported on Wednesday that a request for a public meeting outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday had been approved. Two people want to take part in the demonstration and burn the Koran and the Iraqi flag. Among them was the man who set fire to the Koran in June, the report said.
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