Attempted Breach of Baghdad’s Green Zone Amidst Outrage over Quran and Iraqi Flag Burning in Denmark

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Early Saturday saw numerous protesters seeking to breach the heavily secured Green Zone of Baghdad, the home of international embassies and the Iraqi government’s headquarters, in response to an incident involving an ultranationalist group allegedly burning a Quran copy and the Iraqi flag outside the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen.

Security personnel held the protesters at bay, effectively preventing their access to the Jumhuriya bridge that leads to the Green Zone and subsequently the Danish Embassy.

The recent demonstration follows the storming of the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad by an irate crowd on Thursday. This was in response to a planned Quran burning incident in Sweden. The embassy was occupied for several hours by protesters who waved flags and placards bearing the image of influential Shiite cleric and political leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, while a minor fire was also started. The embassy staff had been safely evacuated a day prior.

In a reactive move, the Iraqi Prime Minister severed diplomatic relations with Sweden in protest against the act of Quran desecration.

In Stockholm last month, an Iraqi asylum-seeker who burned a copy of the Quran during a protest had threatened to repeat the act on Thursday. He refrained from doing so but proceeded to disrespect the holy book by kicking and stepping on it. He demonstrated similar disregard for an Iraqi flag and images of Sadr and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Friday, peaceful protests were witnessed in Iraq and various other Muslim-majority nations, involving thousands of individuals.

According to Danish media, on the same day, the ultranationalist group known as Danske Patrioter set fire to a Quran copy and an Iraqi flag outside the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen. This incident was livestreamed on Facebook.

Copenhagen police spokeswoman, Trine Fisker, confirmed to The Big Big News that a small-scale demonstration involving less than ten individuals took place across the road from the Iraqi embassy on Friday, during which a book was burned. “The identity of the book is unknown to us,” she said, adding that an attempt was made to burn the Iraqi flag which was subsequently trodden on.

Fisker refrained from commenting on the political implications of the event but remarked that it was peaceful “from a police perspective”.

The event triggered an overnight protest in Baghdad, where hundreds of protesters, rallying in support of Sadr and brandishing his image and associated flag alongside the Iraqi flag, attempted to breach the Green Zone. Clashes with security forces ensued before the crowd eventually dispersed.

In a Saturday statement, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its strong condemnation of the incidents that took place outside the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark. The ministry urged the international community to urgently and responsibly address “these atrocities that violate social peace and coexistence around the world.”

Another protest in Baghdad is anticipated to commence at 6 pm.

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This report includes contributions from Abdulrahman Zeyad in Baghdad and Abby Sewell in Beirut for Big Big News. Tanner reported from Helsinki, Finland.

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• Protesters attempt to storm Baghdad’s Green Zone
• Iraq severs diplomatic ties with Sweden over Quran desecration
• Ultranationalist group Danske Patrioter involved in Quran burning in Denmark
• Peaceful protests in Iraq and other Muslim-majority countries
• Upcoming protest in Baghdad