Member of the Supreme Political Council Mohammed Ali al-Houthi praised the Iraqi government’s expulsion of the Swedish ambassador and the withdrawal of its acting ambassador, calling for similar steps to be taken by the rest of the regimes that have relations with Sweden.
“What the Iraqi government did in expelling the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and withdrawing its acting ambassador to Sweden is the right step,” Al-Houthi wrote on Twitter. “All regimes that have relations with Sweden must do this, as we called for from the beginning, and it must also be done now.”
ما قامت به الحكومة العراقية
من طرد سفيرة السويد من #العراق وسحب القائم باعماله في السويد هي الخطوة الصحيحة التي يجب على جميع الانظمة التي لها علاقات مع #السويد القيام به كما دعونا بذلك من البداية
وهو مايجب عمله ايضا الان .— محمد علي الحوثي (@Moh_Alhouthi) July 20, 2023
Salwan Momik, a Sweden-based Iraqi refugee, had stomped on a copy of the Qur’an and kicked the Muslim holy book during a demonstration outside Stockholm’s main mosque amid strict protection provided for the rally by the Swedish police.
The act of sacrilege has opened the floodgates of protest across the world’s Muslim community.
Hours before the planned desecration, hundreds of Iraqi protesters amassed outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, scaling its walls and setting fire to parts of it. Baghdad expelled Sweden’s envoy and withdrew its ambassador from Stockholm.
This was the second time Momik was disrespecting the Qur’an amid the approval of Sweden’s authorities. He had set a copy of the holy book on fire last month too, prompting similar raging protests across the Muslim world.
