Iraq man who burnt copies of Quran in Sweden killed

An Iraqi man who carried out several Quran burnings in Sweden has died, a judge in Stockholm said on Thursday. Swedish media reported that he was killed in a shooting in a nearby city.

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Salwan Momika, 38, staged several burnings and desecrations of Islam’s holy book in Sweden in 2023. Videos of the Quran burnings got worldwide publicity and raised anger and criticism in several Muslim nations, leading to riots and unrest in many places.

The Stockholm District Court said a verdict scheduled Thursday in a trial in which Momika was a defendant was postponed because one of the defendants had died. A judge at the court, Göran Lundahl, confirmed that the deceased was Momika. He said he didn’t have any information on when and how Momika died.

Police said they were alerted to a shooting Wednesday night in Sodertalje, near Stockholm, and found a man with gunshot wounds. He later died, and a preliminary murder investigation was opened.