Arrests over alleged plot to murder cartoonist

Police in Denmark have arrested a number of people suspected of plotting to kill one of the cartoonists whose depiction of the Prophet Mohammed sparked anger across the Muslim world.

The arrests were made in the town of Aarhus on the Jutland peninsula.

Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that originally published the cartoons in September 2005, said the suspects are accused of planning to kill 73-year-old Kurt Westergaard.

He drew the cartoon that caused the most controversy, depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.

Danish news agency Ritzau said police would not give details of the case before security services announce the arrests later today.

The cartoons initially went largely unnoticed, but were later reprinted outside Denmark and eventually provoked outrage among Muslims, most of whom deem any depiction of Mohammed as offensive.

Three Danish embassies were attacked and at least 50 people were killed in rioting in the Middle East and Asia.

Since then, several young Muslims have been convicted in Denmark of planning bomb attacks partly as a protest against the cartoons.