Tensions have escalated in Iraq’s Baghdad where several protesters stormed the Swedish embassy early on 20th July and set it ablaze in a violent response to another planned burning of Quran. This comes following a report from a Swedish news agency saying that the Swedish police had approved a Quran and Iraqi flag-burning protest outside the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm.
The approval comes merely two weeks after a man staged a demonstration by burning the Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm sparking anger amongst Islamists in Pakistan and in Iraq too. Several videos of the Islamists breaching the embassy on Thursday have gone viral on social media.
One video shows enraged protesters, mostly comprising of men dressed in black, on the embassy compound chanting, taking to the embassy’s balcony, and waving flags. A man, seemingly recording the video, can be heard giving an angry speech in the local language.
Another video shows similar scenes with protesters still attempting to go further inside the embassy, waving flags from the balcony, flames erupting from a window and smoke billowing from other parts.
A third video from inside the building now shows the complete violation of the embassy grounds. In the video, amid the background chorus of protesters sloganeering, a man can be heard shouting what sounds like “Ya Hadi” an expression seeking Allah’s guidance.
Armed protesters can be seen crowding the stairs, and the lobby area.
Iraqi riot police used water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters who breached the walls of the Swedish consulate in central Baghdad. Security forces equipped with electric batons attempted to chase away the protesters from the embassy, AFP reported.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry has reportedly said that its embassy staff in Baghdad are safe. “We condemn all attacks on diplomats and staff from international organizations,” the ministry said. “Attacks on embassies and diplomats constitute a serious violation of the Vienna Convention. Iraqi authorities have the responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq issued a statement condemning the burning of the Swedish embassy calling it an “assault on diplomatic missions and threatening their security”.
The statement posted on Twitter read, “The Ministry confirms that 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.”
The protests were reportedly called by supporters of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr who is known to have given calls to his supporters in the past to take to the streets in protest.
On 29th June, a similar protest in Iraq saw an Islamist mob breaching the Swedish embassy against the burning of the Quran by an ex-Muslim Iraqi refugee Salwa Momika residing in Sweden. Hundreds of Moqtada Sadr’s followers broke into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad. Moqtada Sadr is a firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric. After about 15 minutes of heated protests, the gathering of Muslims started to disperse as tight security was put in place. The Quran was burnt in Sweden on June 28.
The protesting Muslims’ pamphlets had the phrase, “Our constitution is the Quran.” “Yes, yes to the Quran,” was another statement spray-painted on the embassy compound’s gate.
