Iraq’s prime minister said Thursday that he was expelling the country’s Swedish ambassador over a politically-charged episode in which Stockholm sanctioned protests where copies of the Quran were desecrated.
The order came after hundreds of young men, many of them supporters of powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad early Thursday for the second time in a week, setting fire to a portion of the entrance hall and inflaming a growing political crisis.
While condemning the embassy assault, Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani said the ambassador had been asked to leave Iraqi territory while Iraq’s chief envoy was ordered to vacate the embassy in Stockholm. The Communications Ministry said that the work of Ericsson, one of Sweden’s largest territory, would also be suspended.
The overnight attack on Sweden’s Embassy drew strong condemnation from the State Department.
“It is unacceptable that Iraqi Security Forces did not act to prevent protesters from breaching the Swedish Embassy compound for a second time and damaging it,” a spokesman said. “We call on the Government of Iraq to honor its international obligations to protect all diplomatic missions in Iraq against any intrusion or damage, as required by international law.”
This is a developing story.
