Swedish Embassy in Baghdad Is Set on Hearth

Tons of of protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday and set fireplace to components of it forward of an indication outdoors the Iraqi Embassy in Sweden, the place current Quran burnings have infected anger within the Muslim world.

The unrest was the most recent ripple from a protest in Stockholm late final month the place Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee, tore up and burned the Islamic holy e-book outdoors the central mosque on the primary day of the Muslim vacation of Eid al-Adha, horrifying Muslims world wide. On the newest demonstration in Sweden on Thursday, Mr. Momika and one other protester kicked round copies of the Quran and stomped on a duplicate of the Iraqi flag.

In response, Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, expelled the Swedish ambassador and directed Iraq’s chargé d’affaires to withdraw from the Iraqi embassy in Sweden, a authorities spokesman mentioned.

The severing of diplomatic relations got here “in response to the repeated permission of the Swedish authorities to burn the Noble Qur’an, insult Islamic sanctities and burn the Iraqi flag,” Mr. al-Sudani mentioned in a tweet. The Iraqi authorities additionally suspended the working license within the nation of the Swedish telecommunications firm Ericsson.

Sweden’s international minister, Tobias Billström, mentioned in a press release that the nation’s embassy in Baghdad had been vandalized and partially burned within the assault at about 2 a.m. native time. Footage shared on social media confirmed a part of the embassy in flames and folks with items of the constructing in their hands.

The Iraqi police fired water cannons to disperse the protesters, in line with photographs shared on social media and information studies, and at the least 15 protesters had been arrested, an Iraqi safety official mentioned. A journalism monitoring group mentioned that three photojournalists had been additionally arrested whereas they had been protecting the protest and demanded their launch.

After the protest, the embassy was closed and all workers members had been protected of their residences, an Iraqi international ministry official mentioned, including that nobody had been on the embassy on the time of the protest. Mr. Billström confirmed that every one workers members had been protected. Employees members on the Finnish Embassy, which is close by, had been additionally evacuated and had been protected, in line with the Finnish information company STT.

The Swedish authorities deliberate to summon Iraq’s chargé d’affaires in Stockholm to specific dismay.

“What has occurred is totally unacceptable and the federal government strongly condemns these assaults,” Mr. Billström mentioned. He mentioned Iraqi authorities had an “unequivocal duty” to guard diplomatic workers and had “critically failed on this duty.”

Iraq’s international ministry condemned the embassy assault in a statement on Twitter and mentioned the federal government had instructed the safety authorities to conduct an pressing investigation to determine the perpetrators and maintain them legally accountable.

Sweden in recent times has struggled with whether or not to permit protests involving the burning of the Quran, which have heightened diplomatic tensions throughout its bid to affix NATO. Sweden’s international ministry referred to as final month’s burning Islamophobic and mentioned it disagreed with it, whereas officers warned that Quran burnings may have an effect on nationwide safety and international coverage.

Whereas the Swedish authorities have denied a number of permits for anti-Quran protests earlier than, citing disruptions to public order, courts have overruled these refusals, saying they didn’t have sufficient grounds to cease the actions. The Swedish police have mentioned they’d charged Mr. Momika with agitation towards an ethnic or nationwide group.

With a small crowd of onlookers watching on Thursday, Mr. Momika denounced his critics by a megaphone, telling them to “be taught Swedish regulation” earlier than they spoke towards his approved rally.

“The Muslim nations gathered as a result of some paper was burned. However they by no means assembled when folks had been burned there and non-Muslims had been killed or pressured to to migrate,” he mentioned, including that he disagreed with Islam’s teachings. “I’m not combating anybody. I’m combating an concept with all means legally obtainable.”

In Stockholm in January, Rasmus Paludan, a twin Danish-Swedish nationwide, led a protest wherein he set fireplace to the holy e-book, angering Turkish officers. Turkey, which had for a time blocked Sweden’s bid to NATO amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had expressed displeasure on the desecration of the Quran.

Turkey has apparently cleared the best way for Sweden to affix NATO, although President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned the nation’s Parliament would make the ultimate determination, and Sweden wanted to take extra steps to win Turkish help.

The protest in a single day in Baghdad was staged on the urging of Muqtada al-Sadr, an influential Shiite cleric who referred to as for the Iraqi authorities to interrupt off diplomatic relations with Sweden. He mentioned that the Scandinavian nation was “hostile” to Islam.

As a part of his protest in Stockholm on Thursday, Mr. Momika additionally rubbed a photograph of Mr. al-Sadr on his ft.

In a press release launched on Mr. al-Sadr’s Twitter account, the cleric mentioned Sweden was flouting diplomatic and political norms by permitting the burning of the Quran and the Iraqi flag. If the flag had been burned, he wrote, the Iraqi authorities “shouldn’t be content material with denunciation, for that signifies weak point and submissiveness.”

Ali Jaafar Ghailan, a 40-year-old resident of Baghdad’s Sadr Metropolis neighborhood, was one of many protesters on the embassy.

“Sweden has allowed the burning of Quran, so we’ll burn all their pursuits in Iraq in the event that they repeat their act,” he mentioned. “We, the followers of the Sadrist motion, are decided to place an finish to this farce.”

A bunch of different Muslim nations additionally condemned final month’s burning of the Quran in Sweden.

Iran’s international minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, mentioned on Twitter earlier this month that whereas the nation had appointed a brand new ambassador to Sweden, it might chorus sending him in protest over the Quran burning. Morocco summoned Sweden’s consultant in its capital, Rabat, and recalled its ambassador in Sweden, in line with its state information company.

Egypt referred to as the burning of the Quran “a disgraceful act,” and Saudi Arabia mentioned that such “hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification.” Malaysia’s foreign minister mentioned the desecration of the holy e-book throughout an essential vacation was “offensive to Muslims worldwide.”

Falih Hassan contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Aaron Boxerman from London.