Hundreds of protesters in Baghdad have attempted to storm the city’s Green Zone, a heavily fortified area with a number of foreign embassies and the seat of Iraq’s government, reports Al Jazeera.
Nearly 1,000 protesters were dispersed by security forces early on Saturday, in reaction to reports of a Quran burning that took place a day earlier by a far-right group in front of the Iraqi embassy in Denmark.
“We have been seeing hundreds of angry protesters. They gathered here, coming from the capital, Baghdad, and other provinces as well, chanting against the desecration of the Holy Quran,” said Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed.
“They are telling us that they’re here today raising copies of the Holy Quran and the Iraq flag to express their rejection of their desecration three times in less than a month – twice in Sweden and once in Copenhagen.”
Protesters chanted in support of influential Iraqi Shia religious and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr, carrying images of the leader and flags associated with his movement, alongside the Iraqi flag.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
