Protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set fire to it early Thursday in response to the burning of the Koran in Sweden.
(Bloomberg) — Protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set fire to it early Thursday in response to the burning of the Koran in Sweden.
Sweden said all embassy staff were safe and that it was in contact with them. Iraq’s foreign ministry condemned the incident and launched an investigation to prosecute the perpetrators.
Violent protests over the burning of the Koran, the holy book for Muslims, have occurred in the Middle East and beyond in recent years. Last year, protests erupted in several countries in the region, including Iraq, after a copy was burnt in Sweden and another copy was torn in the Netherlands.
In June, a Swedish man burnt a copy of the Koran during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha outside a mosque in Stockholm. Earlier this month, Swedish police authorized a protest by a man who planned to burn copies of holy books.
Pictures on Iraqi TV channel Al Sumaria on Thursday showed young men standing at the entrance of the embassy, holding a picture of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Iraqi authorities are responsible for protecting the diplomatic missions and diplomatic personnel,” the Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement to state broadcaster SVT.
Iraqi security forces dispersed the protesters as firefighters put out the blaze. The embassy is located near the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad that houses government ministries and other diplomatic missions.
–With assistance from Charles Daly.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.