Protesters angered by the burning of copies of the Quran in Sweden stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad, scaling the walls of the compound and setting it on fire.
All embassy staff were safe, the Swedish foreign ministry press office said in a statement on Thursday morning, condemning the attack and highlighting the need for Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions.
Online videos showed demonstrators at the embassy early on Thursday morning waving flags and signs showing the influential Iraqi Shia religious and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
Iraq’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the attack on the embassy.
“The Iraqi government has instructed the competent security authorities to conduct an urgent investigation and take the necessary security measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Swedish foreign ministry said staff at the embassy were “in safety” after the embassy was stormed and set alight, and that Iraqi authorities had a responsibility to protect diplomatic missions and staff. A source told Reuters earlier that no embassy staff had been harmed and declined to elaborate further.
Link from www.aljazeera.com
