BAGHDAD: Iraq has expelled the Swedish envoy only hours after protesters annoyed by the burning of copies of the holy Quran in Stockholm attacked the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
Officials in Iraq said that the country’s Prime Minister also recalled Iraq’s charge d’affaires in Sweden, and also suspended the working permit of Swedish telecom firm Ericsson in Iraq.
In a statement, Iraq’s PM office said on Thursday, “The Prime Minister directed the Swedish envoy in Baghdad to leave Iraq,”.
Iraq Expels Sweden Envoy, Embassy Stormed over Holy Quran Burning
The statement added that the decision was “Prompted by Sweden’s repeated permission for the burning of the holy Qur’an, insulting Islamic sanctities and the burning of the Iraqi flag.”
Earlier, protesters set ablaze Sweden’s embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, ahead of a planned burning of a Koran in Sweden, according to AFP.
Events in Sweden have angered Iraqis, and supporters of the religious leader Moqtada Sadr have organized today’s protest in Baghdad.
“We are mobilized today to denounce the burning of the holy Quran, which is all about love and faith,” protester Hassan Ahmed told AFP. “We demand that the Swedish government and the Iraqi government stop this type of initiative.”
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Some protesters had raised copies of the holy Quran into the air, while others held portraits of an important religious cleric and the father of Moqtada Sadr, Mohamed al-Sadr.
“We didn’t wait until morning, we broke in at dawn and set fire to the Swedish embassy,” a young demonstrator in Baghdad told AFP on Thursday, before chanting Moqtada’s name.
Swedish media reported that Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, had organized the event in Stockholm on Thursday.
Salwan burned pages of a copy of the holy Quran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on June 28 during Eid al-Adha, a holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world.
That incident prompted supporters of Moqtada, an influential religious leader, and political dissident in Iraq, to storm the Swedish embassy in Baghdad the following day.
