Artist Attacked Over Mohammed Cartoon

A Somalian man has been shot and arrested in Denmark after he attempted to break into the house of 74 year old Kurt Westergaard.

The man was seeking revenge for the creation of a cartoon made by the householder back in 2005. The cartoonist created an image of the Prophet Mohammed carrying a bomb under his turban, linking Mohammed to violence and terrorism. All depictions of the prophet are generally forbidden under Islamic law.

The original cartoon was published by a Danish newspaper back in 2005 and this sparked violence and threats of violence and death against the newspaper and Mr Westergaard.

The 27 year old suspect arrived at the house carrying an axe and a knife. The cartoonist was able to alert police to the attack and seek safety in the safe room of his house.

Police arrived at the house within minutes of the alarm being raised, the un-named suspect then wielded an axe at a police officer. He was then shot by an officer in the knee and was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment.

The artist said that the man had been shouting “blood” and “revenge” during the incident.

Intelligence officials from Denmark have said that the suspect is connected to the terrorist group al-Shabaab and ally of al-Qaeda in East Africa.

Many people have made attempts on Kurt Westergaard’s life, three arrests were made back in February 2008, at that time he issued a statement, saying “Of course I fear for my life after the Danish Security and Intelligence Service informed me of the concrete plans of certain people to kill me. However, I have turned fear into anger and indignation. It has made me angry that a perfectly normal everyday activity which I used to do by the thousand was abused to set off such madness.

The as of yet un-named attacker will appear in a Danish court charged with the attempted murder of Kurt Westergaard.

UPDATE
See – Cartoonist ‘Attacker’ Appears In Danish Court