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

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Hundreds of followers of the influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr protested this week’s burning of the Quran in Sweden during Friday prayers. (June 30) (AP video: Ali Jabar)

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Supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raise the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in response to the burning of a copy of the Quran in Sweden, during open-air Friday prayers in Basra, Iraq, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)

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Iranian demonstrators chant slogans during a protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden, in front of the Swedish Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 30, 2023. On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Iranian demonstrators burn a Swedish flag during a protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden, in front of the Swedish Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 30, 2023. On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Supporters of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr burn a rainbow flag, in response to the burning of a copy of the Quran in Sweden, during open-air Friday prayers in Basra, Iraq, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)

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Supporters of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr step on a LGBTQ+ rainbow flag in front of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in response to the burning of Quran in Sweden, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raises the Quran, the Muslims’ holy book, during a demonstration in front of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in response to the burning of Quran in Sweden, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Supporters of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr burn a rainbow flag, during a demonstration in front of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in response to the burning of Quran in Sweden, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Supporters of Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr steps on a LGBTQ+ rainbow flag in front of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in response to the burning of Quran in Sweden, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raises of the Quran, the Muslims’ holy book, during a demonstration in front of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad in response to the burning of Quran in Sweden, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

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Followers of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr carry defaced LGBTQ+ flag during a demonstration, in response to the burning of a copy of the Quran in Sweden, during open-air Friday prayers in Basra, Iraq, Friday, June 30, 2023. (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)

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A demonstrator throws an egg at the Swedish Embassy building in Tehran, Iran, during a protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden, Friday, June 30, 2023. On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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A clergyman chants slogan during a protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden, in front of the Swedish Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 30, 2023. On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm. The placard at rear reads in Persian: “Muslim student is supporter of the religion and Quran”. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Iranian demonstrators chant slogans as one of them holds up a copy of Quran, Islam’s holy book, during a protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden, in front of the Swedish Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 30, 2023. On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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An Iranian demonstrator holds up a copy of Quran, Islam’s holy book, during a protest of the burning of a Quran in Sweden, in front of the Swedish Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 30, 2023. On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

By ALI JABAR and NABIL AL-JURANI

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — Thousands of followers of a firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric rallied in major cities in Iraq on Friday, condemning the burning of a Quran during a protest in Sweden earlier this week. Some of the demonstrators called for expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq.

At the rallies in the capital of Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, a cleric with a large grassroots following and political leader, burned Swedish flags and rainbow LGBTQ+ pride flags and chanted ”“Yes, yes to Islam” and “No, no to the devil.”

Addressing the crowds in a speech in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, Friday prayers preacher Sayyid Sattar Batat, called on Iraqi authorities to “if necessary, expel the Swedish ambassador and cut all diplomatic relations with them.”

The protests came a day after hundreds of protesters briefly stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad.

On Wednesday, a man who identified himself in Swedish media as a refugee from Iraq burned a Quran outside a mosque in central Stockholm.

An Iraqi security official said the man was an Iraqi Christian who had previously fought in a Christian unit of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a collection of mostly Shiite militias that were incorporated into the country’s armed forces in 2016. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.

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Swedish police had authorized the protest, citing freedom of speech, after a previous decision to ban a similar protest was overturned by a Swedish court.

The act, coming during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, drew widespread condemnation in the Muslim world. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday suggested that the incident would pose another obstacle to Sweden’s bid for NATO membership.

Iraqi officials have called on Sweden to extradite the man who had burned the Quran for prosecution in Iraq.