Reuters. Plumes of smoke billowed into the sky over Baghdad on Thursday (July 20) after hundreds of demonstrators stormed the Swedish embassy there and set it ablaze to protest the expected burning of a Koran in Sweden.
All embassy staff in Baghdad were safe, the Swedish foreign ministry press office said in a statement, condemning the attack and highlighting the need for Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions.
Thursday's demonstration was called by supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Sadr to protest the second planned Koran burning in Sweden in weeks, according to posts in a popular Telegram group linked to the influential cleric and other pro-Sadr media.
Swedish news agency TT reported on Wednesday (July 19) that Swedish police granted an application for a public meeting outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm on Thursday.
Iraq's foreign ministry condemned the incident and said in a statement the Iraqi government had instructed security forces to carry out a swift investigation, identify perpetrators and hold them to account.
