Sweden: Numerous protesters have stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad after the Quran burning incident in Sweden. The Swedish foreign ministry press office said in a statement that all embassy staff were safe and highlighted the need for Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions.
“The Iraqi government has instructed the competent security authorities to conduct an urgent investigation and take the necessary security measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Iraq’s foreign ministry also strongly condemned the attack, as per the statement.
The government stated that it would sever diplomatic ties with Sweden if a second Quran burning took place in the country. The security forces had deployed inside the embassy, and smoke rose from the building as firefighters extinguished stubborn embers, according to the statement.
Mr. Salwan’s act of burning pages from a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm’s largest mosque on June 28th 2023, during the Eid al-Adha celebration, led to supporters of Moqtada storming Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad the next day.
This incident triggered protests from several Muslim nations, including Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Morocco. Iraq sought Mr. Salwan’s extradition to face trial in their country.
Although Swedish police initially granted Mr. Salwan a permit based on free speech protections, authorities later initiated an investigation for “agitation against an ethnic group” as he had burned the Islamic holy book in close proximity to the mosque.
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