Demonstrators have breached the perimeter of the Swedish embassy on Thursday in Baghdad, Iraq in protest of a Quran burning incident in the Nordic country’s capital.
Protesters, upon a call by influential Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, are calling for the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador to Iraq.
The group was caught on camera scaling a barricaded wall outside the embassy. They have since retreated from the premises, although it is not clear how far into the building they managed to go.
Embassy staff are currently safe, according to the Swedish Foreign Ministry. The breach lasted for around 15 minutes, CNN reported.
An Iraqi resident of Stockholm had burned a copy of the Muslim holy book outside a mosque in the Swedish capital on Wednesday, the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday, to an audience of some 200 people. One man was arrested for attempting to throw stones at the protester.
The man who carried out the protest had obtained a permit from the police, following a court ruling that freedom of speech cannot be restricted over security concerns. However, the man in question will now face an investigation for incitement to hatred.
Al-Sadr and the protesters also demand the Quran burning man’s Iraqi citizenship be revoked.
“If freedom of speech is guaranteed to Iraq and the world, then the believers have to express their views on the burning of the holy books… through massive angry protests against the Swedish embassy in Iraq,” CNN cited the cleric as saying.
Quran burning has been a hot topic in Sweden in recent months, all while the country’s bid to join NATO is held up by a veto by Turkey. A far-right politician had burned another copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy, which led to a temporary halt of negotiations in January.
