CNN
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Protesters breached the perimeter of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday, a day after a protester burned a copy of the Koran in Sweden.
The protests in the Iraqi capital were ordered by Iraq’s powerful Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who also called for the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador to Baghdad.
Videos circulating on social media showed some protesters scaling a barricaded wall outside the embassy. It is not clear how far they got into the building before retreating.
Sweden said its staff were safe. “We are well informed of the situation. Embassy staff are safe and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in regular contact with them,” the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s press office told CNN in an email.
An Iraqi security source confirmed to CNN that the incident was over. The AFP news agency reported that the protesters were inside the compound for about 15 minutes.
The protests in Baghdad followed an incident in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, on Wednesday, when a man burned a copy of Islam’s holy book outside a mosque. Footage of the event showed he was the only person other than his translator at the rally, which coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most significant in the Islamic calendar.
Al Sadr demanded that the authorities revoke the Iraqi nationality of Salwan Momika, the organizer of the individual Koran protest in Stockholm, who emigrated from Iraq to Sweden five years ago.
“If freedom of speech is guaranteed in Iraq and the world, then believers must express their opinion about the burning of holy books … through massive angry protests against the Swedish embassy in Iraq,” Al Sadr said.
Muslim countries and Islamic organizations had condemned the burning of the Koran in Stockholm. Iran called the act “provocative” and Kuwait said it was a “dangerous provocative step”.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC]the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council separately expressed strong condemnation of the event.
On Wednesday, Morocco recalled its ambassador to Sweden and both Iraq and Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the act. On Thursday, the UAE summoned Sweden’s ambassador to Abu Dhabi to protest the Koran burning incident, UAE state news agency WAM said.
In early January this year, Iraqi protesters clashed with security forces outside the Swedish embassy over a separate incident from the Koran burning in Stockholm.
