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Published 20 Jul, 2023 08:48am

Iraqis storm, set fire to Swedish embassy over Quran desecration

Protestors in Iraq’s capital Baghdad stormed the Swedish embassy and lighted a fire on Wednesday over the incident of Quran desecration.

Aljazeera reported that the protestors waved flags and held up signs showing Muqtada al-Sadr, the influential religous and political leader.

The report added that the protest had been organised through Telegram channels and ‘other pro-Sadr media’ against a second planned desecration of the Quran.

The Swedish government said that all of the embassy’s employees were safe and no one had been harmed. However, it called upon the Iraqi government to fulfill their responsibility to protect diplomatic buildings.

Iraq’s Foreign office condemned the incident and said that an investigation had been ordered. A statement said that authorities had been told to take “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.”

Swedish news agency TT reported on Wednesday that the country’s authorities had allowed another demonstration outside the Iraqi assembly to not only desecrate the Quran but burn the Iraqi flag as well.

The permission comes day after Muslim countries strongly protested against the descration of Quran in Sweden.

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