Somali Man Tried for Muhammad Cartoon Attack

19 January 2011

A man who allegedly assaulted Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is carried into court on a stretcher in Aarhus, Denmark (file photo – 02 Jan 2010)

The prosecutor in the case, Kirsten Dyrman, spoke outside the court on Wednesday.

She said the defendant is accused of an attempted terror attack and attempted murder.

The defendant, 29-year-old Mohamed Geele, allegedly broke into the house of a Danish cartoonist in January last year.

The cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, drew caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005, which sparked protests around the world.

Prosecutors say Geele broke into Westergaard's home carrying an axe. Westergaard locked himself in a panic room and was unharmed.

The defendant admits breaking into the house, carrying a weapon but says his aim was only to frighten Westergaard, not to kill him.

Danish investigators say they believe Geele has ties to the Somali-based militia group al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaida.

Anoush Ehteshami is from the Center for the Advanced Study of the Arab world at Britain’s Durham University.

He says Al-Shabaab may be spreading its reach beyond East Africa.

"It has expressed disdain for western and U.N. values in Somalia, in Africa, and in the Muslim world but has very lately, very lately, began to articulate a position more consistent with al-Qaida's world view of confronting the West on its own territory and on its own terms," Ehteshami said.