by Angelo Gambella –
Relations between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Iraq are stiffening, after yesterday a Swede of Iraqi origin, 37-year-old Salwan Sabahmetti Momika, trampled on a copy of the Koran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm. Contrary to what was announced, he did not set fire to the sacred book for Islam, but the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was set on fire by an angry mob.
In vain the Iraqi police deployed to defend the diplomatic representation from the supporters of the political and religious leader al-Sadr.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry said staff had already been secured, but added that local police are responsible for protecting the embassy.
The Iraqi government then recalled its charge d’affaires in Sweden and ordered the removal of the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad, Jessica Svardstrom.
The previous Islamophobic act committed by Salwan Sabahmetti Momika also took place in Stockholm last June 28: on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the feast of the Sacrifice, he had set fire to the Koran in front of a mosque.
