Protesters try to storm Baghdad’s Green Zone over the burning of Quran, Iraqi flag in Denmark

Protesters gather Saturday in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, some carrying Iraqi flags and images of Iraqi Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada Sadr. Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone that houses foreign embassies and the seat of Iraq’s government early Saturday, after reports that an ultranationalist group burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, the previous day. Copenhagen police spokeswoman Trine Fisker told the AP that “a very small demonstration” with fewer than 10 people took place Friday afternoon across the street from the Iraqi Embassy and that a book was burned. Later, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned in a statement “in strong and repeated terms, the incident of abuse against the holy Quran and the flag of the Republic of Iraq in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Denmark.” It called on the international community “to stand urgently and responsibly towards these atrocities that violate social peace and coexistence around the world,” the statement read. The report said that Vahr was told Iran believes that if the Danish government had acted effectively, “we would not have witnessed such a blasphemous act today.” On Saturday evening, more than a thousand protesters gathered again in central Baghdad but did not attempt to storm the Green Zone a second time.