ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji received Sweden’s Chargé D’affaires, Jorgen Lindstrom, on Monday to discuss reopening Stockholm’s embassy in Baghdad following, marking a key step toward easing relations that had been strained between the two countries for almost a year. The meeting focused on “ways to strengthen and develop cooperation and friendly relations” in various fields, “serving the mutual interests of both countries,” read a statement by the National Security Advisory. The two officials also “emphasized their commitment to reopening Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad as part of efforts to bolster diplomatic relations,” the statement added. Relations between Iraq and Sweden deteriorated in July of 2023 when Baghdad severed diplomatic ties with Stockholm and expelled the Swedish ambassador. The move was in response to the Swedish authorities granting permission to Salwan Momika, an Iraqi diaspora member in Sweden, to burn copies of the Holy Quran. Momika set copies of the Quran alight twice in 2023 as a protest against Islam. The first time was outside a mosque in Stockholm and the second time was outside the Iraqi embassy in the Swedish capital. Swedish authorities saw the actions as an expression of freedom of speech. The Quran burnings sparked an outcry from Arab and Muslim majority countries in general, but especially in Iraq where protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, setting it ablaze. Iraq's foreign ministry and the United Nations then condemned the attack on the Swedish embassy, which Stockholm described as “completely unacceptable.” In August, a Swedish prosecutor charged Momika and another individual involved in burning the Quran with “agitation against an ethnic group,” though the trial was never concluded as Momika was in January shot dead in his apartment in Sodertalje, Sweden. The meeting between Araji and Lindstrom also addressed broader regional security concerns, particularly regarding the situation in Syria. Sweden, as a member of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), has been a key partner in Iraq’s efforts to combat the extremist group. It has additionally provided financial aid and humanitarian assistance to those displaced by the conflict.
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