(Baghdad) Iraqi security forces dispersed early Saturday hundreds of supporters of Moqtada Sadr in Baghdad who tried to join the ultra-secure Green Zone where the Danish embassy is located, new mobilization against the profanations of the Koran amid diplomatic tensions.
The nightly protest was sparked by press reports of what appears to be desecration of the Koran in Denmark. On its Facebook page, the far-right Danske Patrioter movement posted a video on Friday of a man burning what appears to be a Koran and stomping on an Iraqi flag.
Contacted by AFP on Saturday, Copenhagen police deputy chief inspector Trine Fisker confirmed “a very small demonstration yesterday in front of the Iraqi embassy: I can also confirm that a book was burned, we don’t know which book it was”.
For several days, the impetuous religious leader Moqtada Sadr has been blowing on the embers.
After two authorized events in Stockholm in which the Koran was desecrated by Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, Sadrist protesters in Baghdad set fire to the Swedish embassy on Thursday. The Iraqi government announced the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador and regional condemnations followed.
Early Saturday, reacting to the incident in Copenhagen, several hundred protesters gathered in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad after 1 a.m. (6 p.m. Eastern Time), chanting “Yes, yes to the Koran” and holding up portraits of Moqtada Sadr, according to an AFP photographer.
Security forces had cut two bridges leading to the Green Zone, a secure neighborhood housing government institutions and embassies. But the demonstrators, around a thousand, tried to force their way through and clashes broke out when they were repelled and dispersed before dawn, an official at the Interior Ministry confirmed to AFP.
Chain reactions
In an attempt to reach the Danish embassy, a handful of protesters managed to cross an entrance to the Green Zone, but the security forces forced them to retreat, using truncheons and tear gas, according to another security source, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement on Saturday “the desecration of the Holy Quran and the Iraqi flag in front of the Iraqi embassy in Denmark”. “These actions provoke reactions and put all parties in delicate situations,” he warned.
The ministry assures that “the Iraqi government guarantees the protection and security provided to the diplomatic teams”.
“We cannot allow what happened with the Swedish Embassy to happen again,” he insisted.
Iran also condemned the incident in Copenhagen.
“From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Danish government is responsible when it comes to preventing insults to the Holy Quran,” according to Iranian diplomatic spokesman Nasser Kanani.
In a statement, the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asked Sweden to deliver Mr. Momika “to the justice of Islamic countries”.
Swedish police said they allowed the gatherings in the name of freedom of assembly, saying that did not mean they approved.
” Escalation ”
A follower of blows, the Iraqi Moqtada Sadr has several times demonstrated his ability to mobilize thousands of demonstrators.
In the summer of 2022, his supporters invaded the Parliament in Baghdad and established a sit in. He was then in the midst of a showdown with the opposing political camp over the appointment of a prime minister.
On Saturday, the troublemaker of Iraqi politics condemned the profanations of the Koran, retaining all the ambiguity about the continuation of his mobilization.
“Words no longer have any use […] religion is seen as something strange and its defenders as dubious individuals,” he tweeted.
Thursday evening, Mr. Sadr called the fire at the Swedish embassy “a spontaneous and popular act”, warning of a potential “escalation” to come “if ever were to be repeated” such desecrations of the Koran.
On Saturday, Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rachid called on “Western governments” to stop “provocations” and “the spread of hatred”.
“Political forces in Iraq have the right to express their anger […] without doing any harm to our state,” he stressed.