Iraq Expels Danish Diplomats After New Desecration

BAGHDAD (KI) -- Iraq on Monday condemned the repeated desecration of the Qur’an in front of its embassy in Denmark, following a second event organized by extreme-right group Danske Patrioter in Copenhagen.

The far-right group on Monday posted a video in which a man is seen desecrating and burning what appeared to be the Muslim holy book, and trampling an Iraqi flag.
The latest video follows a similar event on Friday and others in recent weeks in Sweden’s capital.
Iraq’s foreign ministry “strongly condemns, again, the repetition of the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur’an in front of the Iraqi embassy in Denmark,” it said in a statement.
Such acts allow “the virus of extremism and hate” to pose “a real threat to the peaceful coexistence of societies”, the ministry added.
Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahhaf meanwhile said the Danish embassy’s diplomatic staff already left Iraq on Saturday.
Several thousand Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad on Saturday to condemn the desecration of the Qur’an during anti-Islam protests in Sweden and Denmark.
Protesters gathered in central Baghdad amid heavy security measures, with bridges leading to the Green Zone that houses many foreign embassies shut after an attempt by protesters to get to the Danish embassy in the early hours of Saturday.
Iraqis on Thursday set alight the Swedish embassy in Baghdad following two similar events in which a Stockholm-based Christian extremist desecrated the Qur’an.
Iraqi authorities condemned the burning of the embassy, while retaliating against Stockholm for permitting protests in which the Qur’an was desecrated by announcing the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani on Monday met with ambassadors from other European Union countries, during which he again slammed the desecrations.
He said the actions “have nothing to do with freedom of expression” and called on EU countries to “fight such racist acts and all those that incite violence”, according to a statement.
Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that people who burned the Quran deserved the “most severe punishment” and demanded Sweden hand over perpetrators to “the

judicial systems of Islamic countries”.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said: “Iran believes that the Danish government is responsible for preventing insults to the Holy Qur’an and Islamic sanctities, as well as prosecuting and punishing those committing the insults.”

Public opinion in the Islamic world was waiting for “practical action” by the Danish government, Kanaani said in a statement.

Iran, which has delayed the posting of a new ambassador to Sweden, also said it was reciprocally not accepting a new Swedish envoy over the attacks on the Qur’an.