Hundreds of protesters agitated by the burning of a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in the early hours of Thursday morning and set it on fire, online videos purported to show. The protest was called by supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Sadr ahead of an expected burning of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, in Sweden, which in the past has led to widespread protests and condemnation in Muslim-majority nations, reported the news agency AP.
The videos showed demonstrators at the diplomatic post waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada Sadr.
It wasn't clear if there were any staff inside the complex at the time. Iraqi police and state media did not immediately acknowledge the incident. The Swedish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The demonstration occurred after an Iraqi Christian immigrant last month burned a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, triggering widespread condemnation in the Islamic world.
A similar protest by a far-right activist was held outside Turkey's Embassy earlier this year, complicating Sweden's efforts to convince Turkey to let it join NATO. Before the end of last month, Sadr called for protests against Sweden and the removal of the Swedish ambassador after an Iraqi man burned a Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm.
Two significant fights occurred beyond the Swedish consulate in Baghdad as a consequence of that Quran burning, with protestors penetrating the government office grounds on one event yet not entering the consulate building itself.
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