Protesters set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad

Hundreds storm the Swedish embassy in the Iraqi capital. Nobody will get hurt. It is scheduled to be burning another Koran in Sweden on Thursday.

Hundreds of demonstrators in Iraq stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire, in protest against the announcement of the burning of the Koran in Schwandern. Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that all embassy staff are doing a good job. Sweden condemned the incident. The ministry said the Iraqi authorities should protect diplomatic missions. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced that Iraq “strongly condemns” the deliberate attack on the Swedish embassy in Baghdad. Security forces were instructed to quickly investigate the incident and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Videos on the Eye of Baghdad Telegram channel showed protesters gathering around the embassy around 1 a.m. Thursday (2200 GMT Wednesday) and storming the building compound about an hour later. The demonstrators chanted, “Yes to the Koran.” Later videos showed smoke billowing from a building. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

He called for the protest, supporters of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, ahead of the expected burning of the Koran in Sweden. In June, al-Sadr called for anti-Swedish demonstrations and expelled the Swedish ambassador after an Iraqi man burned a Koran in Stockholm. The governments of many Muslim countries – including Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Morocco – protested the incident. Iraq demanded that the man be handed over.

Two people wanted to burn the Iraqi flag in front of the embassy in Stockholm

The Swedish news agency TT reported on Wednesday that a request to hold a public meeting outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday was approved. Two people want to participate in the demonstration and burn the Koran and the Iraqi flag. The report said one of the people was the same person who set fire to a Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm in June.

In June, during a protest in front of the Great Mosque in Stockholm, Momica burned some pages of the Quran and trampled on Islam’s holy book. Right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan had previously burned a Koran at a demonstration in Stockholm in January. Both measures sparked violent protests in the Muslim world. In Baghdad, demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy and Morocco withdrew its ambassador from Stockholm. (APA/Reuters)