Hundreds of protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday and set fire to parts of it ahead of a demonstration outside the Iraqi Embassy in Sweden, where recent Quran burnings have inflamed anger in the Muslim world.
At the latest demonstration in Sweden on Thursday, Mr. Momika and another protester kicked around copies of the Quran and stomped on a replica of the Iraqi flag.
In response, Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, expelled the Swedish ambassador and directed Iraq’s chargé d’affairs to withdraw from the Iraqi embassy in Sweden, a government spokesman said.
The severing of diplomatic relations came “in response to the repeated permission of the Swedish government to burn the Noble Qur’an, insult Islamic sanctities and burn the Iraqi flag,” Mr. al-Sudani said in a tweet.
The Iraqi government also suspended the operating license in the country of the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson.
Persons:
Salwan, Eid, Momika, Mohammed Shia, Iraq’s, d’affairs, Mr, Sudani
Organizations:
Iraqi Embassy, Ericsson
Locations:
Swedish, Baghdad, Iraqi, Sweden, Stockholm