Iraqis injured in anti-Sweden protest after Koran burning
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ADDS protests in Syria
An Iraqi policeman and seven demonstrators were injured on Monday during a demonstration outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad against the burning of a Koran in Stockholm, a security source said.
The Swedish-Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan set fire to a copy of the Muslim holy book in front of the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital on Saturday.
Iraqi police on Monday confronted more than 400 protesters outside the embassy when they got too close to the building, said an Iraqi interior ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
During the demonstration, which was organized by pro-Iranian groups, protesters chanted, “No to Sweden, yes to the Koran”. When the police pushed back the protesters, violence broke out.
“Protesters threw stones and the police used their batons,” the interior ministry official said, adding that seven protesters and one policeman were injured.
The protesters then dispersed, an AFP photographer said.
Many Muslim countries have said they are outraged by the burning of the Koran, which Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemned as “deeply disrespectful”.
Paludan’s actions in Stockholm have raised tensions with Turkey as Sweden judges Ankara over its bid to join NATO.
In neighboring Syria, in the northern city of Al-Bab, which is under the control of Turkish soldiers, a few hundred people also demonstrated on Monday for the same reason, burning the Swedish flag and chanting anti-Swedish slogans.