BASRA, Iraq (AP) – Thousands of followers of a firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric rallied in major cities in Iraq on Friday, condemning the burning of a Qur’an during a protest in Sweden earlier this week. Some of the demonstrators called for expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq.
At the rallies in the capital of Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, a cleric with a large grassroots following and political leader, burned Swedish flags and rainbow LGBTQ+ pride flags and chanted “”Yes, yes to Islam” and “No, no to the devil.”
Supporters of Iraq’s Sadrist movement march with banners during a protest in Basra on June 30, 2023, denouncing the burning of Islam’s holy book in Sweden. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP) (Photo by HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)
Addressing the crowds in a speech in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, Friday prayers preacher Sayyid Sattar Batat, called on Iraqi authorities to “if necessary, expel the Swedish ambassador and cut all diplomatic relations with them.”
The protests came a day after hundreds of protesters briefly stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad.
Supporters of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr, demonstrate inside the courtyard of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad after they breached the building briefly over the burning of the Koran by an Iraqi living in Sweden, on June 29, 2023. The demonstrators, entered the building and remained inside for about 15 minutes before leaving peacefully as security forces deployed. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)
On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Qur’an outside a mosque in central Stockholm.
An Iraqi security official said the man was an Iraqi Christian who had previously fought in a Christian unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were incorporated into the country’s armed forces in 2016. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ – JUNE 30: Followers of Shia Leader Muqtada al-Sadr gather to protest the burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, by an extremist in Stockholm, on June 30, 2023, in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo by Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Swedish police had authorized the protest, citing freedom of speech, after a previous decision to ban a similar protest was overturned by a Swedish court.
The act, coming during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, drew widespread condemnation in the Muslim world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday suggested that the incident would pose another obstacle to Sweden’s bid for NATO membership.
Iraqi officials have called on Sweden to extradite the man who had burned the Qur’an for prosecution in Iraq.
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