Protesters Set Fire To Swedish Embassy In Baghdad, Iraqi Capital

Hundreds of protesters have stormed Sweden’s Embassy in Iraq, scaling the walls of the complex and torching the building.

They were protesting the second planned burning of the Quran in Sweden in under a month. Swedish officials condemned the attack and confirmed that all Baghdad Embassy staff were safe.

Sweden’s police denied several applications earlier this year for protests which were expected to include burning the Quran.

But the country’s courts ruled the protests should be allowed to go ahead, citing free speech laws.

“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.

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Iraqi police did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

The Swedish news agency TT has reported that Swedish police granted an application for a demonstration Thursday outside of the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm. TT reported that the application stated that two demonstrators planned to burn a Quran and the Iraq flag.

For Muslims, the burning of the Quran represents a blasphemous desecration of their religion’s holy text. Quran burning in the past have sparked protests across the Muslim world, some turning violent. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have suspended all the activities of Swedish organizations in the country in response to the recent Quran burning.