Sweden Embassy Burnt Over Quran-Burning (Videos)

Sweden's Embassy in central Baghdad has been set on fire by protesters

The incident which happened in the early hours of Thursday, July 20, 2023, saw protesters scale the embassy's walls before setting it on fire.

This is a retaliation against plans to burn the Quran and Iraqi flag at the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm.

Swedish police had granted an application for a public meeting outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on the same day, where two individuals were expected to participate in the burning of the Quran and the Iraqi flag.

The permit was issued despite earlier denials of similar applications by Swedish police on security grounds.

Courts had subsequently overturned the police's decisions, stating that such acts were protected by freedom of speech laws.

Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Sadr with a large number of followers called for the demonstrations, a scenario that happened in the past.

Posts on a popular Telegram group linked to the influential cleric and other pro-Sadr media called confirmed they pioneered the demonstration.

Videos posted on Telegram showed protesters gathering around the Swedish embassy at around 1 a.m., chanting pro-Sadr slogans and storming the embassy complex about an hour later.

Smoke was seen rising from a building within the Sweden embassy complex, and protesters were seen standing on its roof. Security forces later deployed inside the embassy, and firefighters arrived to extinguish the fires.

In response, a statement from the Swedish foreign ministry press condemned the attack and called on Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions while confirming the safety of the Baghdad embassy staff.

Last month, Muqtada Sadr called for protests against Sweden and the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador following a Quran-burning incident in Stockholm involving an Iraqi man.

The man was reported to the police for agitation against an ethnic or national group and claimed to be an Iraqi refugee seeking to ban the Quran, the central religious text of Islam believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God.