Terror ruling for Somali in Danish attack

Published on Thursday 3 February 2011 15:53

A COURT in Denmark has found a Somali man guilty of attempted terrorism for trying to kill a cartoonist whose 2005 drawing of the Prophet Muhammad stirred Muslim outrage.

The 29-year-old Somali, who broke into the home of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with an axe on New Year's Day last year, was also convicted of attempted manslaughter, an official said.

The man was acquitted on another attempted manslaughter charge, brought because he threw his axe at a police officer who arrived to arrest him. He was convicted of assault and is expected to be sentenced today.

According to local media, the terror verdict stemmed partly from Mr Westergaard's status as a symbol of freedom of speech in Denmark, so the attempted attack on him was deemed an attack on the nation as a whole.

Mr Westergaard's caricature of the Prophet was one of a dozen cartoons lampooning Islam published by the daily Jyllands-Posten, which led to violent protests in 2006 and threats to cartoonists, other journalists and the newspaper.

His drawing of the Prophet with a turban resembling a bomb attracted most attention. The cartoonist has lived for years since under police protection.

On 29 December last year, Danish and Swedish police arrested five men suspected of plotting a "Mumbai-style" attack to kill as many people as possible in the newspaper's Copenhagen offices.