Cartoonist Attacker Also Plotted Clinton Hit

Somali who attacked Westergaard was detained earlier in Kenya
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 3, 2010 8:29 AM CST
Cartoonist Attacker Also Plotted Clinton Hit
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during her visit to Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009.   (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

The Somali man who attacked a controversial Danish cartoonist had been previously arrested in Kenya in September on suspicion of plotting an attack against US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Denmark's Politiken newspaper reports today. Citing unnamed sources, it said he was later released due to lack of evidence. Clinton visited Kenya as part of an 11-day-tour of Africa in August.

Denmark's ambassador to Kenya told the news agency Ritzau that the Somali man was arrested for having incomplete travel documents. He said Kenyan authorities never told the embassy he was suspected in any terror plot and that the newspaper misunderstood the situation. The 28-year-old was charged with two counts of attempted murder yesterday after breaking into artist Kurt Westergaard's home Friday night. He denied the charges at the court hearing. (More Kurt Westergaard stories.)

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