Mass protest in Baghdad follows Koran burning in Sweden

Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr take part in a protest against a man who tore up and burned a copy of the Koran outside a mosque in the Swedish capital Stockholm, near the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, June 30, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Thousands of supporters of Shi'ite populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held a protest in front of the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad on Friday to demand an end to diplomatic ties after a man set fire to a Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm.

Protesters carried portraits of Sadr and his father, also a prominent cleric, as well as Iraqi flags, and chanted, "Yes, yes to the Koran, Moqtada, Moqtada".