(CN) — Hundreds of Iraqi protesters sieged, vandalized and set a fire inside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad early Thursday morning, responding to a planned Quran burning in Stockholm and fueling a diplomatic crisis between the nations.
Protestors reacted to a call from Muqtada al-Sadr, an Iraqi Shiite cleric and politician, to his followers to challenge a Quran burning that had been greenlighted by Swedish police, according to various Nordic media outlets.
Later Thursday, the Iraqi government expelled the Swedish ambassador and called back its top diplomat in Stockholm, according to Swedish broadcaster SVT. It is a response to "the Swedish government's repeated permission to burn the Holy Quran, insult Islamic sanctities and burn the Iraqi flag,” said Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani.
Iraq will also ban business with Swedish companies, said Communications Minister Hayam al-Yasiri to the Iraqi News Agency. Telecommunications giant Ericsson will have its work permit withdrawn, the Iraqi government has announced.
The incident is the latest of several protests in the Muslim world, calling on Swedish authorities to stop letting local demonstrators burn what is considered a sacred book of God's own words in Islam.
For months, different anti-Islam demonstrators have burned the holy book near Muslim-country embassies in Stockholm, damaging Sweden's diplomatic relationships and reputation as a multicultural, tolerant nation. Just weeks before promising Swedish NATO accession, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan had denied the country’s membership bid until Quran burnings stopped.
Swedish officials have spoken out against the protests.
“What has happened is completely unacceptable and the government strongly condemns these attacks,” Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Tobias Billström wrote in a press release published Thursday.
“Iraqi authorities have an unequivocal obligation to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic personnel under the Vienna Convention. It is clear that the Iraqi authorities have seriously failed in this responsibility,” he wrote, adding that staff at the Swedish embassy are safe.
The Vienna Convention is an international treaty including rules on diplomatic relationships and the conditions surrounding staff on diplomatic missions.
In response to the incident, Iraq’s foreign ministry also published a statement condemning the attack and promising to identify the perpetrators, according to The Guardian.
“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 statement said.
Top Swedish officials have previously condemned Quran burnings in the capital, calling them an “Islamophobic” act that does not reflect the views of the government. Sweden’s foreign ministry wrote in a press release that authorities are unable to interfere as the country has a “constitutionally protected right to freedom of assembly, expression and demonstration.”
The argument hasn't impressed political leaders of Muslim countries, including those in Iraq, which threatened to break diplomatic relations with Sweden if the country continues to allow burnings of the holy book.
In Stockholm Thursday, the demonstrator repeatedly stepped on the holy book in front of a crowd calling for him to stop. He did not burn the Quran on this occasion. Swedish police were reviewing “the entire context” of the planned burning after the events in Baghdad.
Sweden’s second-tier court has deemed police efforts to forbid Quran burnings earlier this year wrong. The police argue that the burnings would jeopardize public safety, but two Swedish courts concluded that the claim was not enough to prevent the act, according to Swedish newswire TT.
Follow @LasseSrensen13
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Biden taps four for Eastern courts May 8, 2024 -
