Thousands of supporters of Shi’ite populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets of Baghdad in a fervent demonstration outside the Swedish Embassy on Friday. Their demand was clear: an immediate end to diplomatic ties following an unsettling incident where a man set fire to a Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm. While the motive behind the attack remains unclear, protesters associated it with the LGBT community, symbolically burning rainbow-colored flags in the process.
In a show of solidarity, the demonstrators prominently displayed portraits of Moqtada al-Sadr and his esteemed father, both renowned clerics, alongside Iraqi flags. Chants of “Yes, yes to the Koran, Moqtada, Moqtada” reverberated through the air as they voiced their disapproval. Although no direct link between the Koran burning and the LGBT community was apparent, Sadr had previously called upon his followers to burn rainbow-colored flags, citing their capacity to incite discomfort among the intended targets.
Notably, a smaller protest also unfolded in the southern province of Dhi Qar. Sadr, through a statement conveyed by a Sadist leader during the rally, called for “mass angry protests against the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad,” urging the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador and the severance of ties with Sweden. Sadr emphasized the importance of avoiding double standards and questioned why the burning of the Koran was not considered a significant hate crime, given the condemnation surrounding the burning of the rainbow-colored flag.
The incident in Stockholm resulted in Swedish police charging the perpetrator, who identified himself as an Iraqi refugee seeking a ban on the holy book, with agitation against an ethnic or national group. Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden’s ambassador, urging the Swedish government to hand over the individual for trial according to Iraqi law. While Swedish police have rejected previous applications for anti-Koran demonstrations, courts have overruled those decisions, emphasizing the protection of freedom of speech.
As the situation unfolded, several Muslim countries, including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Morocco, expressed their protest against the incident. The United States condemned the burning of the Koran but emphasized that issuing the permit for the demonstration supported freedom of expression and did not amount to an endorsement of the action. The protesters in Baghdad called on the Iraqi government to take decisive action, urging the withdrawal of the Iraqi ambassador, closure of the embassy, and expulsion of the Swedish ambassador, vehemently condemning the act as cowardly.
