Iraqis try to protest at Danish Embassy after reports Koran was burned

Following allegations that a Koran was burned in Denmark, hundreds of protesters sought to enter the Danish embassy in Baghdad early on Saturday. In response, Iraqi security personnel used tear gas and videos posted on social media.

Two days prior to the event at Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone, protesters had broken into and set fire to the Swedish Embassy in opposition to a scheduled Koran burning in Stockholm.

Iraq denounced the assault on the Swedish Embassy but also removed the Swedish ambassador in retaliation for the planned burning of the Koran, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God and is the core text of Islam.

A man set fire to a book claiming to be the Koran on Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark, across from the Iraqi Embassy.

A group calling itself the “Danish Patriots” livestreamed the event on Facebook. Two bystanders may be seen standing and conversing near to the burning book in a tin foil tray as well as the Iraqi flag that is lying on the ground.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen condemned it as an act of “stupidity” by a few individuals, telling national broadcaster DR: “It is a disgraceful act to insult the religion of others”.

“This applies to the burning of Korans and other religious symbols. It has no other purpose than to provoke and create division,” he said. He noted however that burning religious books was not a crime in Denmark.

A book that the demonstrators claimed to be the Koran was kicked and partially smashed during the anti-Islamic protest on Thursday in Stockholm, but they left the scene an hour later without lighting it on fire.

Middle Eastern nations including Saudi Arabia and Iran summoned Swedish officials in protest over the incident.

Iran asked Sweden and Denmark to take action to stop the ongoing attacks on the Koran in the Nordic nations on Saturday, claiming that Muslims around the world expected the desecration to stop.

Burning the Koran is permissible in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, all of which have laws protecting the right to free speech.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, declared on Saturday that those who burnt the Koran deserved the “most severe punishment” and urged that Sweden deliver them to the “perpetrator to the most severe punishment.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said: “Iran believes that the Danish government is responsible for preventing insults to the Holy Koran and Islamic sanctities, as well as prosecuting and punishing those committing the insults.”

According to Kanaani, in a statement reported by state media, public opinion in the Islamic world was waiting for “practical action” from the Danish government.

A reply from the Danish foreign ministry was not immediately available.

Iran claimed it will not accept a new Swedish envoy in retaliation for Sweden delaying the installation of a new ambassador due to attacks on the Koran.

“In line with the directive of the president (Ebrahim Raisi), their (Sweden) new ambassador will not be accepted and our new ambassador will not be sent to Sweden until effective action is taken by them,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told state TV.

A spokesman for the Swedish government confirmed that the foreign ministers of Sweden and Iran spoke by phone on Friday, but she would not elaborate on their conversation.

The Iraqi president issued a statement urging Western nations and international institutions “to stop incitement and hate practises, whatever their justifications.”

Additionally, it cautioned Iraqis against being complicit in what it called a “plot of sedition” that was intended to demonstrate that Iraq was unfit for foreign missions.

(With agency inputs)