Iraq Expels Swedish Envoy Over Planned Koran Burning

Iraq expelled the Swedish ambassador on Thursday in protest at a planned burning of the Koran in Stockholm that had prompted hundreds of protesters to storm and set alight the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Timour Azhari, Ahmed Rasheed, and Anna Ringstrom reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Iran's foreign ministry had summoned Sweden's ambassador in Tehran to "strongly protest against the desecration of the holy Koran."

An Iraqi government statement said Baghdad had also recalled its charge d'affaires in Sweden, and Iraq's state news agency reported that Iraq had suspended the working permit of Sweden's Ericsson on Iraqi soil.

Anti-Islam protesters, one of whom is an Iraqi immigrant to Sweden who burned the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque in June, had applied for and received permission from Swedish police to burn the Koran outside the Iraqi embassy on Thursday.

In the event, the protesters kicked and partially destroyed a book they said was the Koran but left the area after an hour without setting it alight. The Koran, the central religious text of Islam, is believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said staff at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad were safe but Iraqi authorities had failed in their responsibility to protect the embassy.

Late on Thursday, Iran's foreign ministry summoned Sweden's ambassador in Tehran to "strongly protest against the desecration of the holy Koran," state media reported, while Turkey called events in Stockholm a "despicable attack."

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