2023-07-20 01:41:15
According to preliminary information, no member of the diplomatic staff was injured.
Dozens of people gathered around the embassy, from where a column of smoke emerged, while riot police deployed in the area to try to control the situation.
Dozens of protesters gathered around the embassy, from where a column of smoke emerged, while riot police deployed in the area to try to control the situation. (Archyde.com)
Videos on social media showed protesters outside the Swedish embassy waving flags and banners depicting influential Iraqi cleric and political leader Moqtada Sadr.
Other images showed a group of men inside what appeared to be a room of the Swedish representation in Iraqi territory.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the attack.
The Swedish embassy in Iraq was set on fire during a demonstration organized by followers of a religious leader. (Archyde.com)
“The Iraqi government issued instructions to the security authorities to carry out an urgent investigation and take the necessary measures to identify the perpetrators of this act,” the text reads.
The assault on the diplomatic compound comes following Swedish police authorized a protest for Thursday outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, where organizers plan to burn a copy of the Koran and the Iraqi flag.
Swedish media reported that Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, had organized the event.
Salwan burned some pages of the Koran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque on June 28 during Eid al-Adha, a holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world.
That incident prompted supporters of Moqtada Sadr, an influential religious leader and political dissident in Iraq, to storm the Swedish embassy in Baghdad the next day.
News in development…
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