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Irish Police Arrest 7 Over Plot to Kill Swedish Artist

Al-Qaeda placed bounty on Lars Vilks over Muhammad drawing

By the Associated Press

Posted Mar 9, 2010 12:50 PM CST
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(AP) – Irish police arrested seven people today over an alleged plot to kill a Swedish artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. Officials say the suspects are foreign-born Irish residents, mostly from Yemen and Morocco, who had been under surveillance since November and were identified based on intelligence intercepts of emails and telephone calls.

The alleged target of the murder conspiracy, Lars Vilks, tells the AP he believes the arrests are linked to two telephone death threats he received in January over one of his drawings published in a Swedish newspaper in August 2007. After publication, al-Qaeda in Iraq announced a $100,000 bounty for Vilks' assassination. The four men and three women were detained on Ireland's south coast, and can be interrogated for up to a week before being charged or released under Irish anti-terrorist law.

Lars Vilks in 2007. He has been in hiding ever since.
Lars Vilks in 2007. He has been in hiding ever since.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
DE MUSHMAN
May 12, 2010 1:43 PM CDT
I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND : If god is so great and all powerful,all knowing, why do his/her delusional brainwashed minions have to do the dirty work of terrorizing, wholesale mass slaughter; intimidation, and hate, in the name of one's respective Gods? Just shows that it's not really a God or Gods, but man who want to control others who just want to be left alone and not be bothered with this insane assinine mass brainwashing anti-human wicked farytale.
It's all a bunch of lies and mass illusions. Man's insecurity and disgusting desire to control women and the weak minded sheeples of the world.The world would be much better off without religion...PERIOD!!!!
benxtwisted
Mar 9, 2010 11:52 PM CST
Why do you think they made such a big deal about this? "After publication, al-Qaeda in Iraq announced a $100,000 bounty for Vilks' assassination." al-Qaeda seems to think it’s a really big deal. Is it because it makes light of their beliefs? Maybe they are not as big and bad as they would like the world to believe, it sure does piss them off when they are depicted as harmless. They do not want to be viewed on a human or equal level, let alone what one could consider below a human. They want the world to see them as maniac killers and tyrants. Its where they get their power.
Molotov
Mar 9, 2010 8:41 PM CST
The religion of peace strikes again.

Copyright 2012 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

 
terrorism • Ireland • Sweden • Prophet Mohammed • Lars Vilks • assassination attempt • al-Qaeda

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