Swedish Media Reprint Cartoon That Inspired Alleged Murder Plot
TIMES ONLINE: Three leading Swedish newspapers and the national broadcaster today carried a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a dog's body after an alleged plot to murder the artist was unveiled in Ireland.

The threat to Lars Vilks was a threat against all Swedes, the country's biggest daily, Dagens Nyheter, proclaimed, adding that the New Year axe attack on a Danish cartoonist for drawing the Prophet meant that Scandanavian values of openness were being assaulted.

The drawing by Mr Vilks was published in the Stockholm-based Dagens Nyheter and Expressen newspapers and the Malmo daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet in defence of one of the cornerstones of Sweden's constitution. This states that Swedes have the right to freedom of speech and cannot be restrained from the lawful expression of their views.

But the newspapers stopped short of running the controversial cartoon on their websites because of their wider accessibility around the world. Islam forbids representations being made of the Prophet.

"In September 2007, al Qaida leaders set a price on Swedish artist Lars Vilks’ head," said Dagens Nyheter in an editorial comment. His "alleged crime" was to draw a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad as a "roundabout dog", a type of street installation popular in Sweden where sculptures are often placed in the middle of roundabaouts.

It added: "The latest development including the arrests in Ireland stresses the serious situation and the failed axe attack on Danish Mohammad cartoonist Kurt Westergaard further emphasises the weight of the threat.

"If anyone views the attacks on Westergaard and Vilks as individual criminal cases it is time for them to think again. The threats are attacks on one of the most fundamental rights – the freedom of speech – and should be viewed as a wider treat against an open and free society.

"The al-Qaeda individuals who would like to silence the Scandinavian artists are denying the most basic values which upholds a democracy. A threat against Lars Vilks is a threat against all Swedes*." >>> David Charter, Europe Correspondent | Wednesday, March 10, 2010

*This is a threat against all Westerners, not just against Swedes. For this reason, all Western newspapers should publish all the cartoons. But they haven’t; and they won’t. The reason: They are too cowardly to stand up for the freedoms they espouse. Shame on them all! – © Mark

Mohammed Teddy Row Sparked Islam Murder Plot
DAILY RECORD: TERROR suspects tried to kill a British diplomat in revenge for a teacher letting kids name a teddy Mohammed, it was revealed yesterday.

The unnamed diplomat escaped unhurt when he disappeared into a crowd on the day the five men were to execute their plot in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Mohammed Teddy Row Sparked Islam Murder Plot >>> | September 13, 2008

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’Plot’ to Murder Saudi King Foiled
DAILY EXPRESS: Counter-terror police foiled a suspected plot to murder the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, it has been revealed.

Officers discovered a courier trying to smuggle £166,000 through Heathrow Airport on a flight from the United States to Syria.



They believe the money was intended for a dissident cell of Saudi Arabians plotting to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah. The cash, made up of a wad of US 100-dollar bills, was uncovered during a search.



Scotland Yard said the incident took place in 2003 and a man has since been convicted in connection with it. ’Plot’ to Murder Saudi King Foiled >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Three Arrested for Plot to Kill Mohamed Cartoonist
THE INDEPENDENT: Three men were yesterday arrested in Denmark accused of plotting to murder a cartoonist, two years after a dozen cartoons lampooning Islamic fundamentalism sparked violent demonstrations around the world.

The target was said to be Kurt Westergaard, 73, a staff cartoonist on Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons. Westergaard's drawings depicted the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb-shaped turban and a burning fuse.

Two Tunisians and a Danish man were arrested before dawn in Aarhus, Denmark's second city and the home of the newspaper. It also has a large community of Arabs and Turks.

Police said they arrested the men while the plot to kill Westergaard was still in the planning stage. The chief of the Security and Intelligence Service, Jakob Scharf, said the arrests came after a long period of surveillance. They were intended, he said "to prevent a terror-related assassination of one of the cartoonists behind the cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed".

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister, said: "Unfortunately... there are in Denmark groups of extremists that do not acknowledge and respect the principles on which Danish democracy is built. In Denmark, we have freedom not only to think and talk, but also to draw." Three arrested for plot to kill Mohamed cartoonist >>> By Peter Popham

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Murder Plot Against Danish Cartoonist
Police arrested several “people with a Muslim background” early Tuesday morning, suspected of conspiring to kill the Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard
JYLLANDS-POSTEN: Early Tuesday morning, Danish police arrested several people with a Muslim background suspected of conspiring to kill Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist with Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.

A formal statement by the police setting out details of the action is expected within the next few hours.

Kurt Westergaard is one of the 12 cartoonists who on 30 September 2005 published cartoons of Muslim prophet Mohammed.
The group arrested includes Danish as well as foreign citizens. The Danish Security and Intelligence Service have followed the group for months.

The cartoons and an explanatory article led, as is well known, to the so-called Mohammed crisis involving violent demonstrations, the boycott of Danish goods and the burning of Danish embassies.

Kurt Westergaard’s cartoon depicting the prophet wearing a bomb turban with a lit fuse attracted particular attention. What the cartoonist wanted to say with his cartoon was that many people exploit the prophet to legitimize terror. However, the cartoon was widely seen as a depiction of the prophet as a terrorist. Murder plot against Danish cartoonist >>>

THE TELEGRAPH:
Five arrested in Danish cartoon murder plot By Julian Isherwood, Scandinavia Correspondent

BBC:
Danish cartoons 'plotters' held

DAILY MAIL:
Islamic terror suspects seized over plot to murder 'Mohammad' cartoonist

JYLLANDS-POSTEN:

Mordkomplott gegen dänischen Karikaturisten

Complot d'assassinat contre un caricaturiste danois

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)