By Staff, Agencies

Thousands of people took part in protests across Muslim majority nations on Friday after a second incident in Sweden involving the desecration of the Quran.

The episode left the Swedish government apologetic and fearing that the outrage in the Middle East may delay Turkey lifting its veto on Sweden’s membership of NATO.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said at the NATO summit in Vilnius that he would recommend the Turkish parliament ratify Sweden’s application, ending Turkey’s year-long veto, but on returning from a trip from the Gulf he merely said Turkish ratification was contingent on the steps taken by Sweden.

In the latest incident, a Swedish-based Iraqi refugee, Salwan Momika, of Christian origin but now a self-described atheist, threatened to burn a copy of the Quran. In the event, he kicked, dropped and stepped on the holy book outside the Iraq embassy on Thursday, but did not burn it. Momika, 37, had police permission for his protest.

It was the second incident involving Momika, who last month was identified in local and social media as the man who had burned a copy of the Quran outside a Stockholm mosque during the holiday of Eid al-Adha, prompting widespread condemnation in the Islamic world.

His most recent threats to burn the holy book led to the storming of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad early on Thursday, the most serious of many protests across the region, and caused Iraq to cut diplomatic ties with Sweden.

The Swedish foreign ministry responded by saying: “Iraqi authorities have an unequivocal obligation to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic staff in accordance with the Vienna convention. It is clear that the Iraqi authorities have failed to fulfil this obligation.” However, the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, instructed the Swedish ambassador in Baghdad to leave Iraq.

Protests took place in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon to denounce Sweden’s permission for the desecration of the Quran.

After Friday prayers, hundreds of people gathered in Baghdad’s Sadr City chanting “Yes, yes to Islam, yes, yes to the Quran”.

Protesters in Tehran and other Iranian cities including Mashhad, Tabriz and Isfahan heeded a call from authorities for nationwide demonstrations after Friday prayers.

In Tehran, hundreds of protesters, waving Iranian flags and carrying copies of Islam’s holy book, chanted “Down with the United States, Britain, ‘Israel’ and Sweden” as some set the blue-and-yellow Swedish flag ablaze.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside Sweden’s Tehran embassy amid tight security and demanded its closure and the expulsion of Sweden’s ambassador.

There were also street protests in Kuwait and Lebanon.

In Lebanon, crowds gathered outside mosques to demonstrate, following a call by Hezbollah for protests after Friday prayers. In Baalbek, a Swedish flag was burnt during a protest by hundreds of people.

Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called for expulsion of the Swedish envoy there and the recall of Lebanon’s ambassador to Sweden.

Also late on Thursday, Saudi Arabia joined a string of Middle Eastern countries in summoning Swedish diplomats over the event earlier in the day in Stockholm.

Sweden’s ambassadors were summoned in various countries including Qatar, Iran and Jordan.