Swedish Police Hide Threatened Cartoonist

The Washington Post ^ | September 18, 2007 | Louise Nordstrom

[neverdem]

Associated Press

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 17 -- A Swedish cartoonist who depicted the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog said Monday that police have taken him to a secret location and told him he cannot return home because of a death threat from insurgents in Iraq.

Lars Vilks, who was whisked away by police when he returned to Sweden from Germany on Sunday, said authorities have described the threats against him as "very serious."

"Police guard was nonexistent before this. It's 100 percent now," Vilks said in a telephone interview. "I can't live in my home."

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni insurgent umbrella organization believed to have been created by al-Qaeda in Iraq, offered $100,000 over the weekend for Vilks's murder. Al-Baghdadi said the bounty would be upped to $150,000 if Vilks was "slaughtered like a lamb," and he offered $50,000 for the killing of the editor of a newspaper that reprinted the cartoon last month after Swedish art galleries refused to exhibit it.

[MittFan08]

I suppose the guy has my sympathy, but if I were a cartoonist, I’m not sure I would draw and seek to publicise a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog. What kind of reaction was he expecting?

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

~~~ALLAH~~~ALLAH~~~FUBAR~~~ What Do I Win ??...;0)

[rmlew]

Bad cartoonist. How dare he deface the body of a dog.

[Roy Tucker]

Any mention if the Swedish police are trying to track down the threateners instead of hiding the guy who is within is rights?

[karnage]

I think there should be cartoons of Mohammed in every paper, every day, all over the formerly Free World.

[JeepInMazar]

Cartoons in Swedish newspaper, Al-Qaeda’s Prophet, and Hadi Elmi of the Islamic Education Center in Houston

[neverdem]

Thanks for the link.

[Toliy]

I suppose the guy has my sympathy, but if I were a cartoonist, I’m not sure I would draw and seek to publicise a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog. What kind of reaction was he expecting?

To distort Pastor Martin Niemöller's famous quotation:

First, they came for the cartoonists, but I said nothing, because I am not a cartoonist.

...

When they came for me, there was nobody left to say anything.

I don't think it matters whether he drew that prophet with the body of a dog or anything else. What matters is that he is within his rights to do so.

[justa-hairyape]

What a strange and alien world, Islam, where a person can be killed for drawing a cartoon.

[Sarajevo]

What Do I Win ??...;0)

A more colorful, more insulting picture....:-)

[17th Miss Regt]

...where a person can be killed for drawing a cartoon.

To muslims, an infidel is not a person.

[sam_paine]

[MeanWestTexan]

That’s probably a good likeness; he certainly has the feet correct.

[pepsionice]

To be that fearful or upset with a cartoon...a religion really has hit rock bottom. I doubt that they can ever be trusted in any manner.

[expatguy]

This is so brave.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[expatguy]

It really has nothing to do with the cartoon. Once Americans and Westerners begin to realize that it will have been too late.

An American Expat in Southeast Asia

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

BWAhahahahaha...Funi Dat...;0)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.