Iraq summons Swedish envoy after Quran burning rally

Iraq's foreign ministry summoned the Swedish envoy to Baghdad on Sunday to protest Quran-burning rallies held by a far-right extremist group days prior.

Baghdad denounced the Quran-burning incident as "a provocation to the feelings of Muslims and an extremely sensitive offence," read a statement from the Iraqi foreign ministry.

"We urge the Swedish government to stop any divisive actions meant to provoke the feelings of religious groups," the statement said.

Danish-Swedish far-right leader Rasmus Paludan is on a tour of Sweden, where he has planned several Quran-burning rallies during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in neighbourhoods known to host large Muslim communities.

Clashes erupted on Thursday ahead of one of these rallies, which was accompanied by Swedish policemen protecting Paludan and his sympathisers. Riots broke out when the police ignored onlookers' calls to stop Paludan.

The protests spread to several Swedish cities and were still ongoing on Sunday.

Copies of the Quran are sacred to Muslims, who consider the book to be the literal transcription of the word of God.

Several Iraqi political factions expressed anger at the public burning.

Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement - one of Iraq's largest Shia political groups - called on the Iraqi government on Saturday to summon the Swedish envoy, and vowed to organise a protest if this request was not fulfilled.

Copies of the Quran are sacred to Muslims, who consider the book to be the literal transcription of the word of God.

Paludan, who heads the far-right anti-Islam party Stram Kurs (Hard Line), has a long history of desecrating the Quran in public in order to offend members of Muslim minorities and spark tensions between local communities. In September 2020, he was banned from entering Sweden for two years after organising another illegal Quran-burning rally. 

Sweden, which places high emphasis on freedom of religion and opinion, does not always outlaw rallies of this type despite their deeply offensive nature to most Muslim citizens.

The Scandinavian country is home to around 200,000 first and second-generation Iraqis, according to official figures.