Iraq expels Swedish ambassador; school closure if Quran burning occurs.
The Iraqi government has expelled the Swedish ambassador to its country and warned that it will sever diplomatic ties if the burning of copies of the Islamic holy book the Quran occurs again.
In a statement released by the Iraqi prime minister’s office on Tuesday, the government said it had ordered the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad to leave Iraq and instructed its diplomats in Stockholm to withdraw.
Prime Minister Mohammed Haider al-Sudani added that “the Iraqi government has warned the Swedish side that it will sever diplomatic relations if there is another incident of Quran burning on Swedish soil.”
The Iraqi government’s action came shortly after angry protesters in Iraq stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesters broke into the Swedish Embassy building in Baghdad, setting it on fire and condemning the burning of Qurans.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström responded by saying, “These events are completely unacceptable and the Swedish government strongly condemns these attacks.”
The Swedish Foreign Ministry has also summoned the acting Iraqi ambassador to Stockholm to protest.
The Quran burning that led to the attack on the embassy occurred during a protest outside a mosque in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 28.
Among the approximately 200 participants in the demonstration, which was sanctioned by Swedish authorities, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi who identifies as a Christian, stepped on a Quran and set it on fire.
In response, Muslim countries strongly reacted to the Quran burning and criticized the Swedish government for authorizing the protest.
Muslim-majority countries such as Iraq, Kuwait, 먹튀검증토토사이트 the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Morocco called in their ambassadors to Sweden to protest the Quran burning, and Iran decided to withhold sending a new ambassador to Sweden.