Swedish embassy in Baghdad stormed, set alight over Koran burning

Source: Reuters

Swedish embassy in Baghdad stormed, set alight over Koran burning

Timour Azhari and Anna Ringstrom
Updated Wed, July 19, 2023 at 10:25 PM EDT

BAGHDAD/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad in the early hours of Thursday morning, scaling its walls and setting it on fire in protest against the expected burning of a Koran in Sweden.

All Baghdad embassy staff were safe, the Swedish foreign ministry press office said in a statement, condemning the attack and highlighting the need for Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions.

Thursday's demonstration was called by supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Sadr to protest the second planned Koran burning in Sweden in weeks, according to posts in a popular Telegram group linked the influential cleric and other pro-Sadr media.

Swedish news agency TT reported on Wednesday that Swedish police granted an application for a public meeting outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday.

The application says the applicant seeks to burn the Koran and the Iraqi flag, TT reported.

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