Arrests in 'cartoonist murder plot'

Seven Muslims were arrested in the Irish Republic over an alleged plot to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist who produced cartoons showing the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog, police said.

Al-Qaida put a $100,000 (66,000) bounty on the head of cartoonist Lars Vilks after a newspaper published his cartoon.

The four men and three women were detained after an investigation involving European security agencies and the United States' CIA and FBI.

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It is understood some of those arrested hold Irish citizenship and a number are originally from the Middle East.

They were detained by police in Waterford and Cork in the south of the country for conspiracy to murder Mr Vilks in another jurisdiction as part of the intelligence-led probe.

The men and women arrested range in age from mid-20s to late 40s and were detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 at Waterford, Tramore, Dungarvan and Thomastown Garda Stations. They can be held for seven days.

Mr Vilks, who lives in an isolated area of Sweden, was put under police protection after threats were made against his life.

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When al-Qaida put the bounty on the cartoonist's head in 2007 it offered a 50 per cent bonus if Mr Vilks was "slaughtered like a lamb" by having his throat cut, while another $50,000 was put on the life of Ulf Johansson, editor-in-chief of Nerikes Allehanda, the local newspaper which printed the cartoon.

Those arrested are not believed to be members of the terrorist group and it is understood some have converted to the Muslim faith.

The arrests were made at about 10am as officers conducted a number of raids.

The Gardai said the operation was supported by members from National Support Services and the Republic's anti-terrorist Special Detective Unit.

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A Garda spokesman added: "Throughout the investigation An Garda Siochana has been working closely with law enforcement agencies in the United States and in a number of European countries."

Mr Vilks's controversial hand-drawn sketches outraged Muslims in some countries after they appeared in the publication Nerikes Allehanda in August 2007.

At least two galleries had previously refused to exhibit the drawings, citing security fears.

Islamic tradition prohibits visual depictions of Mohammed, the founder of Islam.

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Muslims in Orebro, a city in southern central Sweden where the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper is based, held two protests while the publicity surrounding the images sparked a fiery debate in the Swedish media on freedom of expression.

Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt was forced to enter the debate with ambassadors from 22 Islamic countries to try to calm tensions over the cartoon.

Meanwhile Muslim leaders in Sweden condemned the threats on Mr Vilks's and Mr Johansson's lives.

The row in Sweden echoed one in Denmark two years earlier when one of the country's top daily papers, Jyllands-Posten, printed 12 cartoons depicting Mohammed after a children's book author complained he had difficulties finding an illustrator for his book on the life of the prophet.

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