Protesters storm Baghdad’s Green Zone over burning of Koran and Iraqi flag in Denmark
- Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and the seat of Iraq’s government
- The protest came two days after people angered by the planned burning of the Islamic holy book in Sweden stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad
Tensions flared again in Iraq on Saturday over a series of recent protests in Europe involving the desecration of the Koran, Islam’s holy book, which have sparked a debate over the balance between freedom of speech and religious sensitivities.
Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and the seat of Iraq’s government, early on Saturday following reports that an ultranationalist group burned a copy of the Koran in front of the Iraqi embassy in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.
The protest came two days after people angered by the planned burning of the Islamic holy book in Sweden stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad.
Security forces on Saturday pushed back protesters who blocked the Jumhuriya bridge leading to the Green Zone, preventing them from reaching the Danish embassy.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called for the extradition of the person responsible for the renewed desecration.
“Muslim scholars agree that the perpetrator of this crime must receive the harshest punishment,” said a statement published by the office of the religious leader.
Sweden is drawing the hatred of the Muslim world, he continued.
