AFP
Koran burned: new demonstration near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad
Several thousand demonstrators gathered again near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Friday to protest against the burning of a Quran by an Iraqi in Stockholm, an act that sparked outrage across the Muslim world. n a first demonstration on Thursday, supporters of the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr had briefly entered the Swedish representation in Baghdad, before leaving in peace. They were protesting against the act of Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden , who on Wednesday burned a few pages of a copy of the Koran in front of the largest mosque in Stockholm and during Eid al-Adha, a holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world. This event had been authorized by the Swedish police in name of freedom of expression. On Friday, still at Moqtada Sadr’s call, several thousand demonstrated on an avenue in Baghdad near the Swedish embassy, according to an AFP journalist on the spot. The street of the embassy had been closed with concrete blocks by the police in anticipation of the mobilization. The demonstrators castigated the act of Salwan Momika, but also the decision of Sweden to have him there authorized. A religious sheikh read on a platform a speech written by Moqtada Sadr who considered that “burning the Koran is an incitement to hatred” against millions of Muslims and denounced the policy of “double standards” of the West and “those who demand democracy and freedom of expression”. “It’s an insult to the Holy Quran,” Nafia Wali Idriss, a 47-year-old civil servant, told AFP. “Free speech should not open the door to bigotry”.Rainbow flags, a symbol of the LGBT+ community, and portraits of Mr Momika taken during his act on Wednesday were trampled on, in response to the call of Moqtada Sadr who sees in it “the best way to provoke” those who support or defend the fact of burning the Koran. “No to homosexuality! Yes to the Koran!”, chanted the demonstrators who then burned the rainbow flags. In Basra, a large city in southern Iraq, a similar demonstration by supporters of Moqtada Sadr brought together a few hundred people, according to an AFP photographer. The Iraqi government, including Moqtada Sadr does not is not a party, strongly condemned Salwan Momika’s act and called for his extradition to Iraq for trial. Swedish Ambassador to Baghdad Jessica Svärdström was summoned by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday evening for ” inform him of Iraq’s “strong protest” concerning the authorization given by his country to “extremists” to burn the Koran. considered that this summons “is not enough”. “We need more concrete measures,” he said. In neighboring Iran, a few dozen demonstrators protested outside the Swedish embassy in Tehran after Friday prayers, according to AFP journalists. Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson distanced himself from the book burning on Friday, assuring that there was “no reason to insult other people”. Salwan Momika meanwhile declared that he intended to renew his gesture in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, within ten days.tgg-gde/hme
2023-07-01 10:09:32
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