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Protesters Storm Swedish Embassy in Response to Quran Burning
CNN
—
Iraqi security forces dispersed hundreds of protesters who stormed the main gates of the Swedish embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, in response to police in Stockholm sanctioning another planned burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
Videos posted on social media showed a large number of protesters inside the Swedish embassy’s perimeter as well as black smoke and fire coming from the building.
Security forces armed with electric batons chased protestors and used water cannons to disperse them and put out the fire, a security source told CNN.
Three photojournalists working with international news agencies were arrested while covering the demonstrations, Ziyad Al-Ajili, the head of the Iraq-based Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) told CNN Thursday.
One other journalist was beaten by security forces and his camera destroyed, Al-Ajili said.
Violence Erupts as Protests Intensify
Ahmed Saad/Reuters
Protesters climb a fence as they gather near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq on July 20, 2023.
Ahmed Saad/Reuters
Security forces chased protesters and used water cannons to disperse them on Thursday, a source told CNN.
International Outcry and Arrests
The protest in Sweden, scheduled for Thursday, comes just weeks after a lone man set fire to pages of the Quran outside Stockholm’s main mosque, leading to widespread outrage and condemnation around the world, including in Iraq.
According to AFP, Swedish police said Wednesday they had granted a permit for a protest outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, with media reporting the organizers planned to burn the Muslim holy book.
Stockholm police told AFP they had granted a permit for a “public gathering” outside the Iraqi embassy but did not wish to give further comments on what the protesters were planning.
Obtained by CNN
A large number of protesters breached the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, after police in Stockholm sanctioned a Quran burning protest.
Diplomatic Tensions and Condemnations
The Swedish police have stressed that they only grant permits for people to hold public gatherings and not for the activities conducted during them, according to AFP.
At the Baghdad protest eyewitnesses told CNN that the protesters withdrew from the perimeter of the Swedish Embassy after setting part of it on fire “after delivering their message of protest against the act of burning the Holy Book of God.”
Swedish and Iraqi authorities exchanged heated words over the protests, as Baghdad threatened to sever
