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Iraqi prime minister announces expulsion of Swedish ambassador

The measure "in response to the Swedish government's repeated authorizations to burn the holy Quran, express insults against Islamic holy things and burn the Iraqi national flag," according to the order

MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Iraq has decided to expel the Swedish ambassador to the country and recall Iraqi charge d'affaires from Stockholm, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said, the INA news service reported.

The prime minister demanded that the Foreign Ministry make sure Swedish Ambassador Jessica Svardstrom leave Iraq, and Iraqi charge d'affaires in Stockholm return home.

The order sent by the prime minister to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry notes that the government demands that the Swedish ambassador "leave Iraqi territory." The measure "in response to the Swedish government's repeated authorizations to burn the holy Quran, express insults against Islamic holy things and burn the Iraqi national flag," according to the order.

Earlier, the Swedish government gave permission to hold a rally in Stockholm on July 20, during which its organizers plan to burn a copy of the Quran and the Iraqi national flag. A TASS reporter at the scene of the rally saw a man kicking the holy book but not burning it. It was the same man that set up a Quran-burning protest in front of a mosque in the Swedish capital in late June, which prompted protests in Muslim countries.

Hundreds of protesters stormed into the Swedish embassy in Baghdad on Thursday morning and set it on fire. The overwhelming majority of the protesters were supporters of Shiite Imam Muqtada al-Sadr. Baghdad security forces used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned the actions of the protesters. According to the latest reports, Iraqi law enforcement agents have already arrested 20 people suspected of setting fire to the Swedish embassy.

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