Thousands protest in Iraq for a second day over burning of Quran in Sweden

By ALI JABAR and NABIL AL-JURANI
Associated Press

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — Thousands of followers of the Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr have staged protests in major cities in Iraq, including in the capital of Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, to condemn the burning earlier this week of a Quran by an Iraqi man in Sweden. Some of the demonstrators called for the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq. The demonstrators on Friday burned Swedish flags and the rainbow LGBTQ+ pride flags and chanted “Yes, yes to Islam” and “No, no to the devil.” The protests come a day after hundreds of protesters briefly stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad. over the Quran-burning in the Scandinavian country.