Iraqi security forces dispersed nearly 1,000 supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who tried to march towards Baghdad’s Green Zone.

According to the American news agency Associated Press, on Saturday, the supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr were trying to enter the Green Zone of Baghdad, where foreign embassies are located, because they said that the Holy Quran had been desecrated in Denmark.

This was the reaction of the protesters to the news of the desecration of the holy book of Muslims for the third time in a month. The first two incidents of desecration took place in Sweden, which has also increased tensions at the diplomatic level.

On Friday, the far-right group Dansk Patriot posted a video on its Facebook page in which a man appeared to burn a Koran and trample on an Iraqi flag.

Copenhagen police deputy chief Trian Fisker told AFP that some protesters had gathered outside the Iraqi embassy on Friday.

“I confirm that a book was burnt, but we don’t know which book it was,” she said. It (the protest) was quite peaceful.’

Muqtada al-Sadr, who has millions of followers in Iraq and wields enormous influence over national politics, has called for action after the desecration of the Koran in Sweden.

On Saturday, his followers gathered in central Baghdad’s Tahrir Square early in the morning to react to the news from Copenhagen. Some of them also carried pictures of the President.

The protesters, mostly youths, kept chanting slogans of sanctification of the Quran. Security forces blocked roads leading to the high-security Green Zone, where government offices and foreign embassies are located.

An interior ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the protesters tried to force their way through but were dispersed several hours later after scuffles.

According to another security source, a small group of protesters who had entered the Green Zone and were trying to get to the Danish embassy were baton-charged and tear gas fired by officers to push them back.

Earlier, against the desecration of the Quran in Sweden, on Thursday, July 20, hundreds of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr attacked the Swedish embassy in Baghdad and set the building on fire.

Earlier on Saturday morning, Iraq’s foreign ministry condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran and the Iraqi flag in front of the embassy in Denmark.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that ‘as a result of such actions, people are provoked and all parties are faced with a difficult situation.’

In another statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said, “We cannot allow what happened in the Swedish embassy to happen again.”