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| Iraq protesters breach Sweden’s embassy over Qur’an burning | Iraq protesters breach Sweden’s embassy over Qur’an burning |
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| Followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr enter mission’s compound to denounce incident outside Stockholm mosque | Followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr enter mission’s compound to denounce incident outside Stockholm mosque |
| Iraqi protesters have breached Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, angered by a Qur’an burning outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked condemnation across the Muslim world. | Iraqi protesters have breached Sweden’s embassy in Baghdad, angered by a Qur’an burning outside a Stockholm mosque that sparked condemnation across the Muslim world. |
| A crowd of supporters of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr stayed inside the compound for about 15 minutes, then left as security forces deployed, an AFP photographer said. | A crowd of supporters of firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr stayed inside the compound for about 15 minutes, then left as security forces deployed, an AFP photographer said. |
| “Our constitution is the Qur’an,” read a message on leaflets carried by the protesters, and a message sprayed on the compound’s gate read: “Yes, yes to the Qur’an”. | “Our constitution is the Qur’an,” read a message on leaflets carried by the protesters, and a message sprayed on the compound’s gate read: “Yes, yes to the Qur’an”. |
| The protest came a day after an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight in front of the capital’s largest mosque. | The protest came a day after an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight in front of the capital’s largest mosque. |
| Swedish police had granted him a permit in line with free-speech protections, but authorities later also said they had opened an investigation over “agitation”. | Swedish police had granted him a permit in line with free-speech protections, but authorities later also said they had opened an investigation over “agitation”. |
| The Qur’an burning sparked anger across and beyond the Middle East at a time Muslims have observed the Eid al-Adha holiday and the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia was drawing to a close. | The Qur’an burning sparked anger across and beyond the Middle East at a time Muslims have observed the Eid al-Adha holiday and the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia was drawing to a close. |
| Iraq’s foreign ministry condemned Sweden’s decision to grant an “extremist” permission to burn the Qur’an and said such acts “inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and represent a dangerous provocation.” | Iraq’s foreign ministry condemned Sweden’s decision to grant an “extremist” permission to burn the Qur’an and said such acts “inflame the feelings of Muslims around the world and represent a dangerous provocation.” |
| Sadr had called for the demonstration at the Swedish embassy to demand the removal of the ambassador, charging that his state is “hostile to Islam”. | Sadr had called for the demonstration at the Swedish embassy to demand the removal of the ambassador, charging that his state is “hostile to Islam”. |
| A protester, Hussein Ali Zeidan, 32, told AFP he came out to “support the noble Qur’an” and called for Momika’s citizenship to be revoked as “he does not represent Iraq”. | |
| Saudi Arabia, which hosted about 1.8 million Muslim pilgrims for the hajj that ended on Wednesday, also denounced the Qur’an burning. | Saudi Arabia, which hosted about 1.8 million Muslim pilgrims for the hajj that ended on Wednesday, also denounced the Qur’an burning. |
| “These hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification,” its foreign ministry said. | “These hateful and repeated acts cannot be accepted with any justification,” its foreign ministry said. |
| Iran joined in the condemnation, calling the Qur’an burning “provocative, ill-considered and unacceptable”. | Iran joined in the condemnation, calling the Qur’an burning “provocative, ill-considered and unacceptable”. |
| “The government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran … do not tolerate such an insult and strongly condemn it,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani. | “The government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran … do not tolerate such an insult and strongly condemn it,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani. |
| “The Swedish government is expected to seriously consider the principle of responsibility and accountability in this regard, while preventing the repetition of insulting the holy sanctities.” | “The Swedish government is expected to seriously consider the principle of responsibility and accountability in this regard, while preventing the repetition of insulting the holy sanctities.” |
| The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also denounced Sweden for allowing a protest, further clouding the Nordic nation’s chances of quickly joining Nato. | The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also denounced Sweden for allowing a protest, further clouding the Nordic nation’s chances of quickly joining Nato. |
| “We will eventually teach the arrogant westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan said in televised remarks. | “We will eventually teach the arrogant westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan said in televised remarks. |
| “We will show our reaction in the strongest possible terms, until a determined victory against terrorist organisations and Islamophobia is achieved.” | “We will show our reaction in the strongest possible terms, until a determined victory against terrorist organisations and Islamophobia is achieved.” |
| Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, called the Qur’an burning a “disgraceful act provoking the feelings of Muslims” as they mark Eid. | Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, called the Qur’an burning a “disgraceful act provoking the feelings of Muslims” as they mark Eid. |
| The Cairo-based Arab League called it an “assault on the core of our Islamic faith”, and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council also condemned it. | |
| The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation called for “effective measures to prevent a recurrence”. | The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation called for “effective measures to prevent a recurrence”. |
| The United Arab Emirates presidential adviser Anwar Gargash tweeted that the west “must realise that its value system … cannot be imposed on the world”. | The United Arab Emirates presidential adviser Anwar Gargash tweeted that the west “must realise that its value system … cannot be imposed on the world”. |
| The foreign ministry in Abu Dhabi summoned the Swedish ambassador to protest the free-speech protections given to “such heinous acts”, it said on Thursday. | The foreign ministry in Abu Dhabi summoned the Swedish ambassador to protest the free-speech protections given to “such heinous acts”, it said on Thursday. |
| Kuwait said perpetrators of “hostile acts” must be brought to justice and “prevented from using the principle of freedoms as a ploy to justify hostility against Islam or any holy faith”. | Kuwait said perpetrators of “hostile acts” must be brought to justice and “prevented from using the principle of freedoms as a ploy to justify hostility against Islam or any holy faith”. |
| “This new offensive and irresponsible act disregards the feelings of more than a billion Muslims,” the emirate said. | “This new offensive and irresponsible act disregards the feelings of more than a billion Muslims,” the emirate said. |