Attack on Muhammad cartoonist prevented

Three people suspected of planning to assassinate the graphic artist Kurt Westergaard were arrested in Denmark on Tuesday. Westergaard's caricature of the prophet Mohammed carrying a bomb in his turban caused a furore when the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of Mohammed caricatures in 2005. The newspaper is now reprinting this caricature as a symbol of freedom of opinion, and writes: "The positive thing about the story is that the Muhammad crisis and the reactions to current events have shown clearly that freedom of opinion is a fundamental prerequisite for a free society. It has become apparent that encroachments on freedom of opinion will not be tolerated in this country. Taking resolute action serves as an object lesson for anti-democrats in Denmark and elsewhere. Freedom of opinion guarantees us the right to think, say and draw what we want. We are answerable only to the law. No terrorist plan can change that."

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