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Iraq expels Swedish ambassador, threatens to cut ties over desecration of Qur’an

Iraq has ordered the Swedish ambassador to leave and decided to withdraw its envoy from Stockholm for permitting desecration of the Holy Qur’an, a government spokesman says. 

Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani “instructed the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad to leave Iraqi territory”, his office said in a statement Thursday.

It said the decision was “prompted by the Swedish government’s repeated permission for the burning of the Qur’an, insulting Islamic sanctities and the burning of the Iraqi flag”.

According to the statement, Baghdad also “informed the Swedish government … that any recurrence of the incident involving the burning of the Holy Qur’an on Swedish soil would necessitate severing diplomatic relations”.

Earlier, hundreds of Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in the capital Baghdad and set part of it on fire in protest against the second planned desecration of the Holy Qur’an.

The angry protesters, who were reportedly the supporters of prominent Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, stormed the main gates of the embassy building on Thursday, holding up copies of the Qur’an and chanting pro-Sadr slogans.

“We are mobilized today to denounce the burning of the Qur’an, which is all about love and faith,” a protester told AFP. “We demand that the Swedish government and the Iraqi government stop this type of initiative.”

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry condemned the torching of the Swedish embassy building In a statement, saying the Iraqi government had instructed security forces to carry out a swift investigation, identify the perpetrators and hold them to account.

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