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A Swedish artist who survived two murder attempts after drawing a cartoon of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed has died in a horror car crash. Lars Vilks, 75, was killed Sunday when the police car he was traveling in veered onto the wrong side of the road and collided with a truck. Both vehicles caught fire and the truck driver, 45, was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The two police officers who were tasked with protecting Mr Vilks also died, according Swedish news outlet Expressen. The crash is being investigated by the special prosecutor's office. The collision occurred just before...

Danish police have said three officers were shot and wounded at blasphemy debate in Copenhagen where the French ambassador was speaking. Two gunmen are said to be still at large. Reports say up to 40 shots were fired outside the venue in the Danish capital. Controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has drawn caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, was also present at the debate. Shortly after the attack, a message appeared on the Twitter feed of French ambassador Francois Zimeray saying he was unharmed. Lars Vilks stoked controversy in 2007 by drawing pictures of the Prophet Muhammad dressed as a...

The gallery Rönnquist & Quist, who held the opening of artist Lars Vilks exhibit with his paintings on December 7, states that he has hidden the name of both the apartment door and gate, (which also has access code) on the mailbox. "Yet the Islamists found me anyway," says gallery owner to Exponerat. This they did probably through the apartment number on the door, which as shown at left was sprayed with the word “Allah” [in Arabic]. The gallerist also told Exponerat that he first became very scared, frightened and sad and distressed when he works only to survive. “But...

Even by the standards of the Second World War, 1941 proved to be a somewhat eventful. The U.S. joined the war after Pearl Harbor, Germany invaded the Soviet Union – and back in Berlin the Nazis were preoccupied with a Finnish dog called Jackie. Papers just released by the German Foreign Office reveal Adolf Hitler’s regime was increasingly angry that the animal, which had been taught to raise its paw mimicking the Nazi salute, was mocking the Fuhrer. The mutt named Jackie, seen here with Finnish businessman owner Tor Borg, was dubbed Hitler by Borg's wife as it raised its...

When one considers all of the people and places in the West targeted by transnational jihadists over the past few years, iconic targets such as New York’s Times Square, the London Metro and the Eiffel Tower come to mind. There are also certain target sets such as airlines and subways that jihadists focus on more than others. Upon careful reflection, however, it is hard to find any target set that has been more of a magnet for transnational jihadist ire over the past year than the small group of cartoonists and newspapers involved in the Mohammed cartoon controversy. Every year...

The suicide bomber who blew himself up yesterday was an Iraqi man who graduated from a British university. Whitehall sources confirm that Taimour-Al-Abdaly, a 28-year-old man who lived in southern Sweden, was the owner of the car that exploded in central Stockholm last night. His Facebook profile lists him as having studied a BSc in sports therapy at the University of Bedfordshire in 2004. Swedish police confirmed that the two explosions that killed one person and injured two more, causing panic among Christmas shoppers, were a terrorist attack. They said last night's explosions were the result of "terror crimes". "We...

Swedish Mohammad cartoonist’s house targeted in latest attack May 16, 2010 08:37 EDT arson | cartoon | homosexuality | muslim | prophet mohammad | sweden Lars Vilks in Stockholm March 10, 2010/Bob Strong Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who angered Muslims by portraying the Prophet Mohammad as a dog, has suffered a failed arson attack on his house, but was not home when it happened.Vilks told Reuters on Saturday that people smashed windows at his house in the small town of Nynashamnsvage in southwest Sweden and tried to light petrol that they threw inside. But the attack resulted only in small...

Via Ace, whose post you should read if only for the brilliance of his headline. Some of you will be tempted twice over to skip this: It’s long, and you’ve already seen the most dramatic bit. Don’t skip it. Force yourself through it, because it happens to be one of the most genuinely depressing clips ever posted on Hot Air. Everything about this is an utter, unmitigated disgrace — the attack on Vilks, the excruciating passivity of most of the crowd, the sheer thuggery of these shrieking, lunatic, barbarian bastards, and of course the killer moment at around 8:45 when...

Via Michael Moynihan at Reason. Remember Lars Vilks? A few years ago he decided to draw Mohammed as a pooch and has been dodging killers ever since, from garden variety Islamist nuts like “Jihad Jane” all the way up to the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Funny thing, though: Not only wasn’t he intimidated, he practically dared the mujahedeen to come and get him, letting CNN cameras film his home and even booby-trapping the place in case the soldiers of Allah paid him an unexpected visit. Quote: Vilks has faced numerous death threats over the controversial cartoon, but said...

A Swedish cartoonist whose controversial image of the Prophet Muhammad led to a series of death threats said today that he had secured his property with a homemade panic room and booby-trapped artwork. The latest threat to Lars Vilks emerged yesterday when seven people were arrested in Ireland accused of plotting to kill the 63-year-old artist. Mr Vilks responded by saying that he was ready for them. “If something happens, I know exactly what to do,” he said. His home in southern Sweden now contains a barbed-wire sculpture that could electrocute potential intruders, a secure space to hide in and...

A Pennsylvania woman known to authorities as "Jihad Jane" was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft. The indictment, unsealed Monday, charges that Colleen R. LaRose, and five unindicted co-conspirators recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.

Sweden's largest direct marketing company has joined the national postal service in refusing to distribute a political newspaper containing a caricature of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Earlier this week Posten decided not to distribute SD-Kuriren - a newspaper produced by the far-right Sweden Democrats - in Svedala in southern Sweden. As the newspaper contained a reproduction of Lars Vilks's controversial illustration of Muhammad as a dog, the postal service said that to distribute the publication would constitute a security risk. "We want to protect the safety of our mail carriers. This illustration has provoked reactions that have led to death...

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,...

Websites run by militant Islamists have listed the names of over 100 Swedish companies as possible targets in the ongoing row surrounding the publication in Swedish newspapers of a caricature of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Detailing the addresses, maps and logos of Swedish businesses, the websites called for their readers to boycott these firms and "take revenge" on Sweden for the publication of a controversial cartoon by artist Las Vilks. SAS, H&M, Alfa Laval, TV 4 and Arla were among the companies listed, according to SVT news programme Rapport, which based its report on a study carried out by the...

(Sweden:) ”Nerikes Allehanda”, the local newspaper that published a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed, has been given support by the World Association of Newspapers. More than 18,000 newspapers around the world are members of the organistation, which says in a statement that it condemns the death threats made against artist Lars Vilks and the Editor-in-Chief of Nerikes Allehanda Ulf Johansson. The W.A.N says it understands that the publication may have caused offence to Muslims, but adds that the newspaper enjoys full freedom of expression and can print what it likes.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Swedish artist Lars Vilks, under a death threat from al-Qaida over his drawing of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, said Monday that police have increased his security and will not allow him to live in his home. Vilks, who was whisked away by police when he returned to Sweden from Germany on Sunday, said he was currently staying at a secret address after security police described the threats against him as ``very serious." "Police guard was nonexistent before this. It's 100 per cent now," he said in a telephone interview. "I can't live in my home, I've only been...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - A Swedish cartoonist who depicted Islam's 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 following a death threat from al-Qaida in Iraq. Lars Vilks, who was whisked away by police when he returned to Sweden from Germany on Sunday, said police have described the threats against him as "very serious." "Police guard was nonexistent before this. It's 100 percent now," he said in a telephone interview. "I can't live in my home, I've only been allowed to pick...

ISLAM HUNTS CARTOONIST While we're talking about the peaceful, serene, wonderfully loving religion of Islam, this item: The leader of al Qaeda in Iraq is offering money for whoever kills the Swedish cartoonist who dared to insult Islam! "We are calling for the assassination of cartoonist Lars Vilks who dared insult our Prophet, peace be upon him, and we announce a reward during this generous month of Ramadan of $100,000 for the one who kills this criminal." (See link below.) Ooo but get this. You will get $150,000 if you "slaughter him like a lamb." That, I guess, means slice...

The Swedish media and the Prime Minister rallied Sunday behind a cartoonist whose depiction of the Islamic prophet as a dog earned him death threats from Al-Qaeda in Iraq, as Swedish companies braced for a backlash. Cartoonist Lars Vilks said he was ready to die after extremists in Iraq offered $150,000 to anyone who slit his throat or $100,000 for his murder by other means. Related Articles Vilks to get police protection 16th September 2007 Ericsson takes down flags in Iraq 16th September 2007 Al-Qaeda puts bounties on heads of Swedes 15th September 2007 Article Options Send to a friend...