Arrests made in plot to kill Muhammad cartoonist

Danish police say several nabbed in pre-dawn raids "to prevent a terror-related murder."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
afghan cartoon riot 224. (photo credit: AP [file])
afghan cartoon riot 224.
(photo credit: AP [file])
Danish police arrested several people Tuesday suspected of plotting to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Muhammad drawings that sparked an uproar in the Muslim world two years ago, authorities said. The arrests were made in pre-dawn raids in Aarhus, western Denmark, "to prevent a terror-related murder," the police intelligence agency said. It did not say how many people were arrested nor did it mention which cartoonist was targeted. Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the drawings on Sept. 30, 2005, said the suspects were planning to kill its cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, 73. "There were very concrete murder plans against Kurt Westergaard," said Carsten Juste, the paper's editor-in-chief. The cartoons were later reprinted by a range of Western publications, and they sparked deadly protests in parts of the Muslim world. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry. Westergaard's cartoon, which showed Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a lit fuse, was one of the most controversial. Westergaard and his 66-year-old wife Gitte had been living under police protection because of the murder plans, Jyllands-Posten reported. It said those arrested included both Danish and foreign citizens. "Of course I fear for my life when the police intelligence service say that some people have concrete plans to kill me. But I have turned fear into anger and resentment," Westergaard said in a statement published on Jyllands-Posten's Web site. PET, the police intelligence service, called the action "preventive," saying it decided to strike "at an early phase to stop the planning and the carrying out of the murder."