Washington condemns the attack on the Swedish embassy in Baghdad

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The spokesperson for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, stated on Thursday that the United States strongly condemns the attack on the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in the early hours of July 20, according to a statement issued by the US embassy in Iraq.

“Freedom of peaceful assembly is an essential hallmark of democracy, but what occurred last night was an unlawful act of violence,” Miller said.

“It is unacceptable that Iraqi security forces did not act to prevent protestors from breaching the Swedish embassy compound for a second time and damaging it,” the US official illustrated.

“We are in contact with our Swedish partners and have offered our support. Foreign missions should not be targets of violence,” the spokesperson for the US State Department clarified.

Miller also called on the government of Iraq to honor its international obligations to protect all diplomatic missions in Iraq against any intrusion or damage, as required by international law, according to the statement.

Iraqi protesters set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad early Thursday ahead of a planned burning of a Quran in Sweden, AFP reported.

Swedish authorities approved an assembly to be held later Thursday outside the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, where organizers plan to burn a copy of the Quran as well as an Iraqi flag, AFP added.

On Wednesday, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, during a phone call with his Swedish counterpart, stressed the need to prevent the recurrence of acts offensive to Islam and the Holy Quran, according to INA.

On June 28, Salwan Momika, a refugee of Iraqi origin in Sweden, burned a copy of the Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque.

Momika, 37, tore up and burned several pages of a copy of the Holy Book outside Stockholm’s central mosque after the Swedish police granted him permission to do so, according to a judicial decision.

The incident sparked a wave of anger in the Arab and Islamic regions.