ERBIL, Kurdistan region - Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari signed a memorandum of understanding in Stockholm on Friday with Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer, agreeing to cooperate in fighting organized crime as the two nations work to mend ties that were severed two years ago.
The agreement aims to “strengthen bilateral cooperation between Iraq and Sweden in the field of law enforcement and combating transnational organized crime,” read a statement from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.
The enhanced cooperation will be done through “effective information exchange regarding cross-border organised crime, including narcotics offences, criminal activities linked to illegal weapons and explosives, and financial offences and money laundering. Sweden and Iraq will also be able to strengthen the cooperation through joint trainings and exchange of best practices,” the Swedish Justice Ministry said in a press release.
Following the signing ceremony, Shammari said the memorandum represents “a new starting point towards an effective security partnership between Iraq and Sweden,” adding that his ministry continues to “expand the scope of international cooperation in the field of combating crime and strengthening the capabilities of its security and intelligence institutions.”
Relations between Iraq and Sweden deteriorated in 2023 when Baghdad severed diplomatic ties and expelled Stockholm’s ambassador amid uproar after Swedish authorities granted permission to Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee, to burn copies of the Quran.
Momika set copies of the Quran alight twice in 2023 as a protest against Islam. The first time was outside a mosque in Stockholm and the second time was outside the Iraqi embassy in the Swedish capital. Swedish authorities saw his actions as an expression of freedom of speech.
The Quran burnings sparked an outcry from Arab and Muslim majority countries, especially in Iraq where protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, setting it ablaze. Iraq's foreign ministry and the United Nations condemned the attack, which Stockholm described as “completely unacceptable.”
In August, a Swedish prosecutor charged Momika with “agitation against an ethnic group,” though the trial was never concluded as Momika was shot dead in his apartment in Sodertalje, Sweden in January.
In Stockholm, Shammari urged Swedish officials to “reopen the Swedish embassy in the capital Baghdad given the importance of this step in strengthening diplomatic and security relations and facilitating direct cooperation between government institutions in the two countries.”
Sweden, as a member of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), has been a key partner in Iraq’s efforts to combat the extremist group. It has also provided financial aid and humanitarian assistance to those displaced by the conflict.