The Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq was stormed and set alight in the latest scenes of unrest amid an ongoing international row over the burning of the koran in Sweden,
Breaking: Muslim extremists stormed and attacked the Swedish embassy in Baghdad. They’ve set it on fire as revenge for an expected Quran-burning protest in Sweden, which they want banned. pic.twitter.com/nvK0Xq19ba
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) July 20, 2023
As a crowd of hundreds gathered, footage showed groups of men climbing the fence around the embassy and attempting to break through the doors.
NOW – Swedish embassy in #Baghdad set on fire. pic.twitter.com/J33GKJlbkr
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 20, 2023
While no injuries among staff were reported, the Swedish foreign ministry condemned the attack saying that assaults on embassies and diplomats “constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention,” adding that, “Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff,”
JUST IN: Rioters currently STORMING SWEDISH EMBASSY in the Iraqi Capital of Baghdad.
The building has now been set on fire..
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) July 20, 2023
The row erupted last month after a Swedish court gave permission to Salwan Momika, an Iraqi immigrant, to burn a copy of the book outside a mosque in Stockholm under the country’s freedom of speech laws.
Hundreds of islamists stormed Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, Iraq and burned it down yesterday after another Quran was burnt in Sweden. 😡😡
— Ashlea Simon (@AshleaSimonBF) July 20, 2023
Momika was initially denied permission to his protest application by the police before the court found in his favour, although the Swedish government condemned his actions as “Islamophobic”.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned this morning’s attack saying, “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,”
Anger was reignited after it was reported that permission was granted on Wednesday for another Koran burning to take place outside the Iraqi embassy in the Swedish capital.
It was reported that Stockholm police granted permission for the burning of copies of the Torah and Bible outside the Israeli embassy there.
The AP reported that the application to burn the books sacred to Jews and Christians respectively was made by a man, named as activist Ahmad Alush, who “wanted to burn the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli Embassy in response to a Quran-burning outside a Stockholm mosque,”
It was reported that Alush abandoned plans to burn the books, instead holding a protest to highlight why religious texts should be respected.
Blasphemy is not against the law in Sweden after its blasphemy laws were abandoned in the 1970s.