Quranic Line: Hundreds of protesters tried to storm the heavily fortified Green Zone in Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Saturday after another incident of burning Qurans and Iraqi flags in front of the country’s embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, amid rising tensions over desecration of the Quran.
Protesters stormed the Green Zone and were apparently attempting to reach the Danish embassy after a ultra-nationalist group allegedly burned a copy of the Quran and an Iraqi flag outside the Iraqi embassy in Copenhagen. There was also a livestreaming of a Koran burning allegedly by a nationalist group in Denmark.
They were pushed back by Iraqi security forces, who blocked the Jumhuriya bridge near the Green Zone, reports the AP. Notably, the Green Zone houses all foreign embassies in Iran, thus making it a more likely attack for perceived desecration.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Saturday “strongly condemned the incident of abuse against the Holy Quran and the flag of the Republic of Iraq in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark”. It also urged the international community to stand up against “these atrocities that violate social peace and coexistence around the world”.
Earlier, protesters angry over a second desecration of the Koran in Sweden stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Friday, ransacking the compound and setting small fires. Following the protests, Iraq broke off diplomatic relations with Sweden and expelled the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad.
Meanwhile, thousands of people protested repeatedly in Muslim-majority countries including Iran, Iraq and Lebanon over the desecration of the holy Quran, the holiest Islamic religious book.
Thursday’s protest in Baghdad followed a second incident of desecration of the Holy Quran involving Iraqi Christian Salwan Momika. Momika stepped outside the Iraqi embassy on Thursday and kicked a copy of the Quran, but that didn’t stop her from burning it.
Last month, Momika was seen tearing up and burning a copy of the Quran near a mosque in Stockholm around the festival of Eid al-Adha, triggering widespread outrage and debate among Muslim countries over the limits of religious hatred and freedom of expression.
The Swedish ambassadors in Saudi Arabia and Iran were summoned to register formal protests against the Koran burning. The Taliban government in Afghanistan suspended all activities of Swedish organizations in the country. However, the resolution was passed over divided opinion from the United States and the United Kingdom over fears of curtailing freedom of expression.
Earlier this month, the UN Human Rights Council approved a resolution calling on countries to end religious hatred.
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