Muslim nations have expressed outrage since Salwan Momika desecrated the holy book in Stockholm last month.
Al Jazeera says Iraq has expelled Sweden’s ambassador shortly after protesters had stormed its embassy in Baghdad and set parts of the building on fire.
Supporters of the influential Iraqi Shia religious and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr reportedly called for the burning of the embassy on July 20. The demonstrators were angry over what was supposed to be the second burning of a Quran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm.
Iraq has reportedly expelled the Swedish ambassador only hours after Iraqi protesters angered by the burning of copies of the Quran in Sweden stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad, scaling the walls of the compound and setting it on fire.
The Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, also recalled his country’s charge d’affaires in Sweden, the government said on Thursday, and suspended the working permit of Swedish telecom company Ericsson on Iraqi soil.
The Associated Press (AP), citing Iraqi state-run media, says the announcement of the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and the withdrawal of the Iraqi charge d’affaires from Sweden followed an anti-Islam protest by two men on a lawn about 100 meters from the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm. One of them was identified by Swedish media as Salwan Momika, an Iraqi of Christian origin who lives in Sweden as a self-identified atheist. He stepped on and kicked the Quran but did not set it aflame.
According to Al Jazeera, Sweden’s ambassadors have been summoned in various countries following a second event to desecrate Islam’s holy book was held in Sweden.
Thus, foreign ministries of Qatar and Saudi Arabia summoned Sweden’s diplomats on Friday handing them a protest note over the events in Stockholm.
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, called on Arab and Muslim countries to follow Iraq’s steps and expel Swedish ambassadors from their countries.
Turkiye condemned it as a “despicable attack” and called on Sweden to take “decisive measures to prevent this hate crime” against Islam.
Iran’s foreign ministry summoned Sweden’s ambassador in Tehran on Thursday to “strongly protest against the desecration of the holy Quran”.
The Kingdom of Jordan condemned the Quran’s desecration in Stockholm “as a reckless act that fuels hatred, and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insult to religions.”
