Iraqi demonstrators protest desecration of Quran in Sweden

By Haydar Karaalp

BAGHDAD (AA) – Followers of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq rallied against the desecration of the Quran in Sweden this week after Friday prayers.

Hundreds of people carried the Muslim holy book to protest against the attack on the Quran in Sweden’s capital Stockholm.

Early Thursday morning, a crowd of Iraqis stormed Sweden’s Embassy in Baghdad and set it ablaze in protest of the June 28 burning of a copy of the Quran by Salwan Momika, an Iraq-born man who now lives in Sweden.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack on its embassy in Baghdad, calling it a "serious violation" of the Vienna Convention.

Many countries, including the US, Russia, Türkiye, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Afghanistan, as well as other Islamic states, decried the attack.

Following the storming of Sweden's diplomatic mission, Momika desecrated another copy of the Quran by stepping on it and the Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm.

In response to the repeated act, the Iraqi government warned Sweden that it would break diplomatic relations if such desecrations of the Muslims' holy book continued.

Baghdad also declared Sweden's ambassador in the country a persona non grata after the holy book was desecrated for the second time in a month, ordering him to leave the country.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar