Hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad early Thursday, scaling its walls and setting it on fire to protest the planned burning of a copy of the Koran in Sweden.
Footage showed protesters waving flags and signs depicting influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr before climbing over the fence and setting it on fire before entering the embassy.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström on Thursday condemned the storming of the embassy as ‘completely unacceptable’ and said all staff in Baghdad were safe. ‘It is clear that the Iraqi authorities have seriously failed in their responsibility to protect the diplomatic mission and personnel,’ said a furious Billstrom.
The demonstration was called by political leader Sadr’s supporters to protest the second planned Koran burning in as many weeks in Stockholm, Sweden.
Sadr, one of Iraq’s most powerful figures, commands tens of thousands of followers whom he has called into the streets at times, last summer when they seized Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone and engaged in deadly clashes.
Footage showed protesters waving flags and signs depicting influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr before climbing over the fence and setting it on fire before entering the embassy.
Iraqi riot police try to disperse supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr during a protest outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday
Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr climb a fence outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday.
Protesters clashed with members of the security forces as they gathered near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, hours after the embassy was attacked and set on fire on Thursday.
Swedish police on Wednesday granted a request for a public rally outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday, police permits showed. Police said two people were supposed to participate in the permit.
Swedish news agency TT reported the two men had planned to burn Korans and Iraqi flags at public gatherings and included a man who set fire to a Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm in June.
Swedish police earlier this year rejected several requests for demonstrations to burn Korans, citing security concerns. Courts have since overturned the police decision, saying such acts are protected by the country’s far-reaching freedom of speech laws.
A series of videos posted on the Telegram group, One Baghdad, showed people gathering around the Swedish embassy around 1 a.m. Thursday (2200 GMT Wednesday) and storming the embassy complex about an hour later.
‘Yes, yes to the Koran,’ chanted the protesters.
Later video shows smoke rising from a building in the embassy complex and protesters standing on its roof.
Protesters storm the Swedish embassy ahead of an expected Koran burning in Stockholm, Iraq, on Thursday.
Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather to protest outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday.
Protesters scaled a wall at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday
Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gather to protest outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday.
Iraqi riot police try to disperse supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr during a protest outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday
Iraq’s foreign ministry also condemned the incident and said in a statement that the Iraqi government has ordered security forces to quickly investigate, identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable.
By early Thursday, security forces were deployed inside the embassy and smoke was billowing from the building as firefighters put out stubborn embers, according to Reuters witnesses.
Iraqi security forces later charged dozens of protesters who were still outside the embassy as they tried to evacuate the area. Protesters hurled rocks and missiles at a large number of security forces who had gathered briefly earlier.
Late last month, Sadr sparked protests against Sweden and calls for the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador after an Iraqi man burned a Koran in Stockholm.
After the burning, the man was reported to the police for agitating against a racial or national group. In a newspaper interview, he described himself as an Iraqi refugee who wanted to ban Islam’s central religious text, the Koran, which Muslims believe is a revelation from God.
Two large protests took place outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad after the Koran was burned, with protesters entering the embassy grounds on one occasion.
The governments of several Muslim countries, including Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Morocco, have issued protests against the incident, seeking the man’s extradition to face trial in Iraq.
The United States also condemned it, but added that Sweden’s issuance of the permit supported freedom of expression and did not condone the move.
Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr hold up portraits of him as they gather for a protest outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday
Supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr climb a fence outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday.
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