A few dozen Iraqis protesters today they managed to enter for a short time inside the embassy her Sweden at Baghdad in protest of the burn of pages of a copy of the Koran in Stockholm by an Iraqi, according to an AFP photographer.

The protesting followers of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr remained inside the Swedish diplomatic mission for almost a quarter of an hour and left it quietly when the security forces arrived, according to the photographer.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was “informed of the situation. Our embassy staff are safe.”

The protesters took part in a procession called by Shiite Muslim religious leader Moqtada Sadr, who is unpredictable but highly respected by tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Sadr, as well as the Iraqi government — which he does not participate in — strongly condemned the action of Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, who on Wednesday burned a few pages of a copy of the Koran in front of Stockholm’s largest mosque, against the duration of a gathering for which the Swedish authorities had given permission.

The Baghdad government condemned these actions as being carried out “repeatedly” by “sick and extremist minds”. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry denounced “the permission given by the Swedish authorities to an extremist to burn a copy of the Holy Quran”.

Many other Muslim countries denounced the “incitement to hatred” and “provocation”.

During the demonstration outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, some protesters held leaflets that read in English and Arabic: “Our Constitution is the Koran. Our leader is Moqtada Sadr.”

They also burned rainbow flags, a symbol of the LGBTI+ community, in response to Sadr’s call in a Twitter message: “the best way to challenge” those who support burning the Koran.

On the gate of the Swedish embassy, ​​they also spray-painted “Yes, yes to the Koran.”

Speaking to AFP, 32-year-old worker Hussein Ali Zeidan demanded that the Iraqi identity card be removed from Salwan Momika “because he does not represent Iraq”.

Such actions as Salouan Momika’s have already taken place in Sweden or other European countries, sometimes at the initiative of far-right movements, which have resulted in protest movements and diplomatic tensions in the past.