The Iraqi man who burned pages of the Koran in Stockholm on Wednesday, sparking protests from the Muslim world, said Thursday he would repeat the gesture in 10 days.
“Within ten days I will burn the Iraqi flag and the Koran in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm,” Salwan Momika, a 37-year-old Iraqi refugee in Sweden, told the Swedish daily Expressen.
This Wednesday, Salwan Momika burned some pages of a copy of the Koran in front of the Great Mosque of Stockholm, during an initiative authorized by the Swedish authorities.
Quoted by the same newspaper, Salwan Momika said he was aware of the impact of his gesture – which coincided with the start of the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Ahda (Feast of Sacrifice) -, adding that he had already received “thousands of deaths”. threats”.
Following the Iraqi refugee act, supporters of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr managed to briefly enter the Swedish embassy in Baghdad today to emphasize their protest.
The protesters were part of a march called by Moqtada Sadr, a Shiite Muslim religious leader who is as unpredictable as he is revered by tens of thousands of Iraqis.
According to AFP, Moqtada Sadr’s supporters remained inside the embassy for about a quarter of an hour and quietly left when the police arrived.
Last January, the burning of another copy of the Koran in front of the Turkish Embassy by the Swedish-Danish far-right Rasmus Paludan provoked a strong protest from Turkey, which continues to block the ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Source: TSF
