Iraqi Foreign Affairs Ministry summoned Swedish representative over Quran burning incident

Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr denounced the move on Saturday and called on the Iraqi government to summon the Swedish representative.
Protesters set fire to a police bus in the Sveaparken park in Orebro, Sweden, April 15, 2022. (Photo: AP)
Protesters set fire to a police bus in the Sveaparken park in Orebro, Sweden, April 15, 2022. (Photo: AP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Sweden’s Chargé d'Affairs to Iraq on Sunday following the burning of a copy of the Holy Quran in the Scandinavian country. 

“We summoned the representative of the Kingdom of Sweden in Baghdad and delivered to him the Iraqi government’s denouncement,” read a press release from the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry warned that the burning “bears grave implications for Sweden’s relations with all Muslims.”

The press release called on the Swedish government “to intervene to stop any acts that provoke religious sentiments.”

On Thursday, Rasmus Paludan, the Danish leader of the far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) Party, burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden.

Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr denounced the move on Saturday and called on the Iraqi government to summon the Swedish representative. 

“Why this provocation to the feelings of Muslims?” Sadr asked in a tweet. “If you do not believe in God and his law, this does not give you the right to burn the book, whatever it is!” 

“The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs should summons the representative of Sweden in Baghdad to investigate this terrorist crime,” he added. “And if this is not done, we will have a peaceful protest against the encroachment on our sanctities and our Quran.”

Accompanied by police, Paludan went to an open public space in the southern Swedish city of Linkoping and set his copy of the Quran on fire.

About 200 demonstrators gathered in the square to protest the action. They urged the police not to allow the racist leader to burn the holy book. After the police ignored their calls, the protesters blocked traffic on the road and pelted police officers with stones. 

Since Thursday, protests against Paludan’s anti-Islamic action have been held across the country, including in the capital Stockholm and other towns where Stram Kurs planned to hold rallies.