Protestors set Swedish embassy on fire over Quran burning

BAGHDAD, July 20: Hundreds of protesters have stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad, scaling the walls of the compound and setting it on fire over the burning of Quaran in Sweden.

The Swedish foreign ministry said through a statement that the staff at the embassy were “in safety”. The ministry also condemned the attack and said that Iraqi authorities had a responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and staff in the statement.

Online videos showed demonstrators at the embassy early on Thursday morning waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shia religious and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr.

“The Iraqi government has instructed the competent security authorities to conduct an urgent investigation and take the necessary security measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

By Thursday morning, security forces had been deployed inside the embassy and smoke rose from the building as fire-fighters extinguished stubborn embers, according to witnesses. Most protesters had withdrawn, with a few dozen milling around outside the embassy.

“We are mobilised today to denounce the burning of the Quran, which is all about love and faith,” protester Hassan Ahmed told the French news agency AFP at the embassy, “We demand that the Swedish government and the Iraqi government stop this type of initiative,” he said.

(Al Jazeera/CNN)