Denmark
Protests in Iraq and Iran after the Koran was denigrated
Security forces recently had to stand guard in front of the Swedish embassy. Now they had to intervene in front of the Danish embassy. photo
© Hadi Mizban/AP/dpa
A Koran is believed to have been burned near the Iraqi embassy in Denmark. Now there were riots near the Danish embassy in Iraq.
After an Islamophobic action in Denmark have once again taken to the streets in Iraq. Hundreds of people gathered in the capital, Baghdad, near the Danish embassy, eyewitnesses said.
Security forces dispersed them with water cannons and prevented them from entering the so-called Green Zone, where several embassies are located. Once again, it was mainly supporters of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The demonstrators held up photos of al-Sadr and demanded retaliation.
Koran slurs precede
Copenhagen police confirmed to Danish media that a book was burned near the Iraqi embassy there on Friday afternoon. She left it open whether it was a Koran.
Footage posted on Facebook by a group called “Danske Patrioter” (Danish Patriots) shows a man setting fire to a book resembling a Koran. He then placed an Iraqi flag over the smoking book, but it did not catch fire. He then laid the flag on the ground and walked over it several times.
Previously, disparagements of copies of the Koran in Sweden had led to protests in Islamic countries. A few days ago, demonstrators broke into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set it on fire. Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry spoke of a “systematic provocation against the feelings of millions of Muslims around the world”. Thousands have joined protests in Iran and Lebanon. Criticism also came from Turkey.
Iran calls for “heaviest punishment”
Iran’s head of state, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, demanded the extradition of the person responsible after the disparagement of a Koran in Sweden. “Muslim scholars agree that the perpetrator of this crime must receive the harshest punishment,” the religious leader said in a statement released by his office. Sweden attracts the hatred of the Muslim world.
The 84-year-old did not explicitly comment on what exactly “heaviest punishment” means. Wanton desecration of the Koran is considered blasphemy in Iran. In extreme cases, the death penalty can be imposed for blasphemy.