Iraq’s capital Baghdad has seen its second major protest against Western interests in just a few days as hundreds of people attempted to storm the Green Zone, an area of the city which houses several embassies, including the Danish embassy, as well as the Iraqi parliament.
The attempted storming, which saw security forces deploy tear gas and batons to repel the few protestors who managed to actually enter the area, took place over the weekend on Saturday, July 22nd, and was in reaction to the burning of a copy of the Islamic holy book, the Quran in Copenhagen, Denmark, the day prior, the Associated Press reports.
The Quran-burning demonstration took place outside of the Iraqi embassy in the Danish capital and reportedly involved fewer than ten people participating.
Copenhagen police spokesperson Trine Fisker commented on the incident saying, “I can also confirm there was a book burnt. We do not know which book it was. Apparently, they tried to burn the Iraqi flag and after that, somebody stepped on it.”
A statement later emerged from the Danish Foreign Ministry condemning the protest and saying, “Burning of holy texts and other religious symbols is a shameful act that disrespects the religion of others.”
The attempted attack on the Green Zone was followed up with another attack on an office belonging to the Danish Refugee Council in the city of Basra in the south of Iraq. Three vehicles belonging to the aid group were set on fire by the attackers.
Lilu Thapa, the aid group’s executive director for the Middle East, commented on the attack saying, “Our staff on the premises at the time were physically unharmed, but there has been damage to the property with structures set on fire.”
“We deplore this attack—aid workers should never be a target of violence,” Thapa said and added, “DRC has been working in Iraq for 20 years, providing support to communities affected by conflict and displacement, including demining operations across Basra.”
On Monday, July 24th, yet another Quran burning took place in Copenhagen outside of the Iraqi embassy. The group “Danske Patrioter” (Danish Patriots) took credit for the burning of the book and posted a video on social media allegedly showing the first protest on July 21st, which the group is also believed to have been responsible for
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry slammed the burnings saying it “strongly condemns, again, the repetition of the burning of a copy of the holy Koran [sic] in front of the Iraqi embassy in Denmark.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahhaf also claimed that the Danish embassy staff had left Iraq on Saturday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani added that such protests have nothing to do with freedom of expression and called on European Union countries to combat such acts, which he called racist and claimed incite violence.
The burnings come just days after the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was stormed and fires were set by supporters of the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in reaction to the news that a demonstration desecrating the Quran was to be held just hours later in Stockholm, outside of the Iraqi embassy.
While the demonstration was initially believed to be a burning of the Quran, Salwan Momika, the Iraqi migrant behind the demonstration, did not set the book on fire but did trample on it during his protest.
The Stockholm protest was also condemned by Iraqi authorities who, angered at Sweden for allowing Momika to have permission to carry out the protest, expelled the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and cancelled work visas for the Swedish telecom giant Ericsson in retaliation.
“The Iraqi government has informed the Swedish government through diplomatic channels that any recurring incident involving the burning of the Holy Quran on Swedish soil would lead to the breaking of diplomatic relations,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudan said.
Earlier this year, another Quran-burning protest took place outside of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, sparking tensions between Sweden and the Turkish government.
Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan, the man behind the January protest and one of the leading Quran burners in Europe, found himself subject to a Turkish arrest warrant last week after an investigation was opened against him by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for “publicly insulting religious values.”
Paludan, whose Quran burnings have sparked riots in Denmark and Sweden as well as massive amounts of condemnation from the Muslim world, reacted to the arrest warrant by laughing at it and saying he had no plans to visit Turkey.
“If you are in Denmark and Sweden then I follow the law that applies there. That’s how it works. I don’t have to follow Turkish law in Sweden,” he said.
