Iraq expels Swedish ambassador over planned Koran burning
Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador on Thursday in protest at a planned burning of the Koran in Stockholm that had prompted hundreds of protesters to storm and set alight the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
An Iraqi government statement said Baghdad had also recalled its charge d'affaires in Sweden, and Iraq's state news agency reported that Iraq had suspended the working permit of Sweden's Ericsson on Iraqi soil.
Anti-Islam protesters, one of whom is an Iraqi immigrant to Sweden that burned the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque in June, had applied for and received permission from Swedish police to burn the Koran outside the Iraqi embassy on Thursday.
In the event, the protesters kicked and partially destroyed a book they said was the Koran but left the area after one hour without setting it alight. The Koran, the central religious text of Islam, is believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said embassy staff were safe but Iraqi authorities had failed in their responsibility to protect the embassy.
The Iraqi government strongly condemned the burning of the Swedish embassy, according to a statement from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani which declared it a security breach and vowed to protect diplomatic missions.
Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attacks America over Koran burning in Sweden
Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attacked America after reminding his rivals of the influence he still wields after his supporters stormed and torched the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday.
Prompted by one man's plan to burn a Koran, the incident has dragged Baghdad into a diplomatic crisis and disrupted the relative calm enjoyed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani since he took office with the backing of Sadr's Shi'ite rivals.
The protester didn't follow through with his plan to burn the Koran in Stockholm, but he still kicked and partially destroyed one.
Speaking in Najaf, al-Sadr criticised America after the US decried the attack on the Swedish embassy.
Sadr has mostly laid low since announcing his departure from politics, engaging supporters in religious events rather than calling them to the streets for protests.
Hezbollah leader calls on Arab, Islamic nations to expel Swedish envoys, withdraw ambassadors from Sweden
The leader of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on Thursday, called on Arab and Islamic nations to follow Iraq's steps and expel Swedish ambassadors from their countries and withdraw their ambassadors from Sweden over a planned Koran burning in Stockholm.
Nasrallah also called on Muslims to massively attend Friday prayers and sit in front of mosques while "embracing the Koran."
Reuters
