Hundreds of Iraqi protestors stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire ahead of a planned burning of the Quran in Sweden, news agency Reuters reported, adding that no staff member was harmed during the agitation.
Iraq's foreign ministry has condemned the incident and said in a statement the Iraqi government had directed security forces to investigate and identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, the report added.
The demonstration was called by supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Sadr to protest the second planned Quran burning in Sweden in weeks, according to posts in a popular Telegram group linked the influential cleric and other pro-Sadr media, Reuters said.
Online videos showed demonstrators scaling the wall of the embassy and waving flags and signs showing. They showed men climbing over the fence at the complex and the sound of them trying to break down a front door could also be heeard. Sweden reacted to the attack and called it a serious violation of the Vienna convention and called on Iraqi authorities to “protect diplomatic missions and staff”.
Sweden faced international condemnation after far-right politician Rasmus Paludan set fire to a copy of the Quran in front of Turkey's embassy in Stockholm. Surrounded by police, Swedish-Danish activist Paludan set fire to the Islamic holy book with a lighter after a long speech in which he attacked Islam and immigration in Sweden, as per a report by Al Jazeera. “If you don’t think there should be freedom of expression, you have to live somewhere else,” he reportedly said.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemned the act calling it "deeply disrespectful". "Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act. I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today," he tweeted.