Iraq expels Sweden envoy as Quran stomped in Stockholm

Iraq on Thursday expelled Sweden's ambassador after a man stomped on a copy of the Koran at a Stockholm demonstration just hours after the Swedish embassy in Baghdad was torched over the planned protest.

Sweden-based Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, 37, stomped and kicked the Koran but left the protest without burning it, just weeks after he set fire to pages of the book outside Stockholm's main mosque.

Sweden and other European countries have previously seen protests where far-right and other activists, citing free speech protections, damage or destroy religious symbols or books, commonly sparking protests and heightening diplomatic tensions.

Around the time of Thursday's protest in Stockholm, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani "instructed the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad to leave Iraqi territory", according to a statement by his office.

It said the decision was "prompted by the Swedish government's repeated permission for the burning of the holy Koran, insulting Islamic sanctities and the burning of the Iraqi flag".

Overnight protesters had breached and set fires within the compound of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and clashed with riot police, prompting an emergency meeting with the prime minister.

The Iraqi government strongly condemned the embassy attack but also issued a warning to Sweden if it allowed the second Koran burning protest to go forward.

Baghdad had informed Stockholm "that any recurrence of the incident involving the burning of the Holy Koran on Swedish soil would necessitate severing diplomatic relations," according to a statement from Sudani's office._Agencies.