Iraq told Sweden it would sever diplomatic ties if a Koran is burned again, after hundreds of people stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it alight in a protest against plans for one to be burned in Stockholm later on Thursday, Ednews reports citing Reuters.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said embassy staff were safe but that Iraqi authorities had failed in their responsibility to protect the embassy in accordance with the Vienna Convention.
The Iraqi government strongly condemned the burning of the Swedish embassy, according to a statement from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani which declared it a security breach and vowed to protect diplomatic missions.
But Baghdad had also "informed the Swedish government ... that any recurrence of the incident involving the burning of the Holy Qur’an on Swedish soil would necessitate severing diplomatic relations", the statement said.
Billstrom said what happened was "completely unacceptable and the government strongly condemns these attacks". He added: "The government is in contact with high-level Iraqi representatives to express our dismay."
Thursday's demonstration was called by supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to protest against 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.
The Swedish government said this month it is considering changing the law to allow police to stop people from setting the Koran on fire in public if they endangered Sweden's security.
