Axe-wielding terrorist attacks Danish cartoonist

A 28-year old Somali man whom authorities say has ties to Al-Quaeda and the Al-Shabaab terrorist group, broke into the Aarhus home of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with the aid of an axe. Aarhus is the second-largest city in Denmark. When the 74-year old Westergaard heard the break-in occurring, he pressed an alarm, grabbed his 5-year old granddaughter and retreated into a bathroom that had previously been reinforced to act as a "panic room". Westergaard later told his employer, the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, that the attacker shouted "revenge!" and "blood!" as he tried to break into the bathroom. When police arrived a couple minutes later, the man confronted them with an axe and knife. He was shot twice by the police after throwing the axe at an officer. Neither wound was life-threatening and the man is being held by the authorities on preliminary charges of attempted murder.

 

This is not the first attempt on Westergaard's life. He's been the target of numerous death threats and at least two other plots since he drew the now-famous newspaper cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse. It was one of 12 images published in September 2005 by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. In 2006, they sparked violent protests around the world as Muslims forbid any depiction of the prophet and many considered the cartoons an insult to Islam. Westergaard has received round the clock protection by the police since February 2008 when two Tunisian nationals were arrested for plotting his murder.

 

After three more would-be assassins were arrested in February of last year, Westergaard said, "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."

 

Speaking of the current incident, Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen stated, "This is not only an attack on Kurt Westergaard but also an attack on our open society and our democracy."

 

As part of that open society and it's democratic values, Denmark gives asylum to refugees under the UN Convention definition of refugees as "individuals who have a well grounded fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, association with a specific social group or political beliefs." It's been revealed that the still-unnamed Somali suspect is a legal resident of Denmark admitted under the asylum rules.

 

Photo Credit:

1) Kurt Westergaard sitting in his office at the Jyllands-Posten newspaper (Oct. 27, 2009 AP file photo)

2) The offending cartoon.

 

 

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