Sweden says in ‘regular contact’ with breached embassy in Baghdad

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sweden’s foreign ministry late Thursday said it is in “regular contact” with the Scandinavian country’s mission in Baghdad hours after it was stormed by the supporters of a firebrand cleric angered by the burning of a copy of the Quran in Stockholm the previous day. 

Dozens of supporters of the Iraqi top Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Thursday breached the Swedish embassy, demonstrating inside the courtyard of the mission after Sadr called for a large demonstration to condemn the Quran burning in front of a mosque in Stockholm on Wednesday - the first day of the Islamic Eid al-Adha. No damage to the embassy building and no harm to its staff have been reported. 

“We are well informed about the situation. Our Embassy staff are in safety and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is in regular contact with them,” the press office of the ministry told Rudaw’s Zinar Shino in an email. 

“As a rule, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs does not comment in detail on threats to our diplomatic missions or on the security and contingency measures taken, as this could jeopardise those measures and increase the risk to our staff and others,” added the office. 

The demonstrators left the embassy building after staying in its courtyard for a short period of time. They began preparations for a larger protest demanded by Sadr to be held in front of the mission after the Friday prayer. 

The Iraqi government, judiciary, presidency and foreign ministry have condemned the burning of the Quran, with the judiciary stating that it will launch procedures to request the extradition of the Iraqi refugee, Salwan Momika, 37, who burned the Quran in the Swedish capital on Wednesday. 

“Down with Momika, down with Israel, down with America, yes to Islam, yes to the Quran. We condemn the action and hopefully a million-strong demonstration will be held here tomorrow,” a protester told Rudaw on Thursday, adding that they want the expulsion of Sweden’s ambassador as well. 

Iraq’s foreign ministry said late Thursday that it had summoned Sweden’s ambassador Jessica Svardstrom and asked her government to take necessary measures to prevent the repetition of the Quran burning in the country, reported the Iraqi state media. 

"The person who insulted the Holy Quran is an Iraqi, so we demand that the Swedish authorities hand him over to the Iraqi government for trial according to Iraqi law," the Iraqi foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf later said.