In late June, the 37-year-old sparked outrage when he stomped on the Koran and put on it strips of bacon before lighting a few pages on fire, then slamming it shut and kicking it like a football.

On Thursday, Momika staged another protest in Stockholm, stomping on and kicking a copy of the Muslim holy book outside Iraq's embassy -- although he refrained from burning it.

At both protests, Momika, sporting square sunglasses, has appeared defiant in the face of shouting counter-proters, smirking in reaction to the obscenities shouted at him.

While holding the Koran, Momika professed that he wanted to alert Swedish society to "the danger of this book" during his June protest.

Before his move to Sweden, his social media accounts tell a story of an erratic political career in Iraq.

It included links to a Christian armed faction during the fight against the Islamic State group, the creation of an obscure Syriac political party, rivalries with influential Christian paramilitaries and a brief arrest.

He also joined the massive anti-corruption protests that gripped Iraq in late 2019, which was met with a crackdown by authorities that killed more than 600 people nationwide.

- Diplomatic headache -

Momika originally planned to stage his Stockholm protest in February, but police denied him a permit. They cited security concerns in the wake of a January Koran burning by Swedish-Danish activist Rasmus Paludan, who has been convicted for racist abuse.

An administrative court overturned the police decision, a ruling confirmed by an appeals court, clearing the way for his protest.

Speaking to newspaper Aftonbladet in April, Momika stressed that his intention was not to cause Sweden any trouble.

"I don't want to harm this country that received me and preserved my dignity," he said.

His protests have nevertheless been a headache for the government and its diplomatic efforts.

His June protest drew condemnations from around the world, including from Turkey which has yet to ratify Sweden's NATO membership.

The 57-member Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation called for collective measures to avoid future Koran burnings.

And ahead of Momika's latest protest, supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr breached Sweden's embassy in Baghdad Thursday, and even started fires within the compound.

- Undeterred -

Sweden's government condemned his protest as an "Islamophobic act", and police opened an investigation over "agitation against an ethnic group", noting that Momika had burned pages from the Islamic holy book very close to the mosque.

He denied the accusations, including that his actions constituted a "hate crime", in an interview with Expressen newspaper.

Seemingly undeterred by the backlash -- as well as a slew of death threats he said he received -- Momika announced his plans for the second protest in front of his native Iraq's embassy. He intended to again burn the Koran -- and the Iraqi flag -- he said.

While Momika stopped short of burning the Koran, the Swedish decision to let his demonstration go ahead prompted Iraq to expel Sweden's ambassador and revoke the license for telecom firm Ericsson to operate in the country.

On social media, Momika, who hails from Iraq's Nineveh Governorate, does not mince words about his disillusion with Iraqi politics, commenting on current events and denouncing the Sadrist movement led by Moqtada Sadr.

Following Thursday's protest, Momika said on Facebook that he vowed to continue his campaign.

"I will continue to confront the Islamic ideology and its merchants until it is banned," he wrote in Arabic.

In early July, he also expressed political ambitions in Sweden, telling newspaper Aftonbladet he hoped to one day run for a seat in parliament as a representative for the Sweden Democrats -- an anti-immigration party propping up Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's coalition government.

The Sweden Democrats at the time stated that Momika's actions did not represent the party.

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