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Al-Qaeda Puts Price on Head of Cartoonist

$100,000 for murder of Swede who drew offensive image

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 16, 2007 5:01 PM CDT

(Newser) – An al-Qaeda affiliate is offering a reward to slaughter a Swedish cartoonist who drew an image offensive to Muslims. In an online statement, Islamic State in Iraq offered $100,000 for Lars Vilks' murder and $50,000 for that of the newspaper editor who published the cartoon. The reward escalated to $150,000 should Vilks "be slaughtered like a lamb."

Vilks' August cartoon depicted the head of the Prophet Mohammed on a dog's body, ABC says. The cartoonist said he sketched the image to protest Swedish art galleries who’d refused to display it. The men said they were taking the threats seriously, but one quipped, “I was a little disappointed by the low price on my head.”

Angry Pakistani protesters burn an effigy of Swedish prime minister to condemn the publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in Karachi, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Angry Pakistani protesters burn an effigy of Swedish prime minister to condemn the publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in Karachi, Pakistan....   (Associated Press)
Angry Pakistani protesters burn an effigy of Swedish prime minister to condemn the publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in Karachi, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
Angry Pakistani protesters burn an effigy of Swedish prime minister to condemn the publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in Karachi, Pakistan....   (Associated Press)
Pakistani protesters burn a Swedish flag to protest against the publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in Lahore, Pakistan.  (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)
Pakistani protesters burn a Swedish flag to protest against the publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in Lahore, Pakistan. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)   (Associated Press)
Swedish artist Lars Vilks meets the press in the entrance to the national Swedish Television (SVT) headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Sunday Sept 16, 2007.  The purported head of the al-Qaida aligned Islamic State in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has upped the reward for Vilks' death to $150,000 if he...
Swedish artist Lars Vilks meets the press in the entrance to the national Swedish Television (SVT) headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Sunday Sept 16, 2007. The purported head of the al-Qaida aligned...   (Associated Press)
Swedish artist Lars Vilks meets the press in the entrance to the national Swedish Television (SVT) headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Sundayday Sept 16, 2007.  The purported head of the al-Qaida aligned Islamic State in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has upped the reward for Vilks' death to $150,000 if he...
Swedish artist Lars Vilks meets the press in the entrance to the national Swedish Television (SVT) headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Sundayday Sept 16, 2007. The purported head of the al-Qaida aligned...   (Associated Press)
Pakistani protesters rally holding a flag with the name of artist Lars Vilks, as they condemn the  publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in Lahore, Pakistan.  (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)
Pakistani protesters rally holding a flag with the name of artist Lars Vilks, as they condemn the publication of a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, Friday, Aug. 31, 2007, in...   (Associated Press)
Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt speaks to the media in Stockholm, Sweden, Friday Sept. 7, 2007.  Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said he had a good dialogue Friday with ambassadors from Muslim countries in a meeting called to defuse tensions over a newspaper cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.  Diplomats from 22...
Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt speaks to the media in Stockholm, Sweden, Friday Sept. 7, 2007. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said he had a "good dialogue" Friday with ambassadors from Muslim...   (Associated Press)
Protesters holds the Holy  Quran aloft outside the editorial office of the local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda in Orebro, Sweden Friday Aug. 31 2007. They demanded an apology for a cartoon showing the prophet Muhammed portrayed as a dog that was published in the newspaper's August 19 edition. (AP photo/Scanpix Sweden/Fredrik...
Protesters holds the Holy Quran aloft outside the editorial office of the local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda in Orebro, Sweden Friday Aug. 31 2007. They demanded an apology for a cartoon showing the prophet...   (Associated Press)
Protesters demonstrate outside the editorial office of the local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda in Orebro, Sweden Friday Aug. 31 2007. They demanded an apology for a cartoon showing the prophet Muhammed portrayed as a dog that was published in the newspaper's August 19 edition. The placard at the center of the...
Protesters demonstrate outside the editorial office of the local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda in Orebro, Sweden Friday Aug. 31 2007. They demanded an apology for a cartoon showing the prophet Muhammed...   (Associated Press)
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