BAGHDAD — Protesters angered by an Iraqi man in Sweden who threatened to burn a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday, overrunning the diplomatic compound and starting a fire.
Hours later, Iraq’s prime minister cut diplomatic ties with Sweden in protest over the desecration of the Islamic holy book.
Protesters occupied the diplomatic post for several hours, waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, and setting a small fire. The embassy staff had been evacuated a day earlier.
The attack came ahead of a protest by an Iraqi asylum-seeker who burned a copy of the Quran during a demonstration last month in Stockholm. He threatened to do the same thing again but ultimately stopped short of setting fire to the book.
After protesters left the Swedish Embassy, diplomats closed it to visitors without specifying when it would reopen.
Following a meeting with security officials, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement that Iraqi authorities would prosecute those responsible for starting the fire and referred to an investigation of “negligent security officials.”
However, the statement also said that the Iraqi government had informed Sweden on Wednesday that Iraq would cut off diplomatic relations should the Quran burning go forward.
Sudani soon announced the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and the withdrawal of the Iraqi charge d’affaires from Sweden.
The announcement followed an anti-Islam protest by two men on a lawn about 100 meters (300 feet) from the Iraqi Embassy in Stockholm. One of them was identified by Swedish media as Salwan Momika, an Iraqi of Christian origin who lives in Sweden as a self-identified atheist. He stepped on and kicked the Quran but did not set it aflame.