Danish cartoonist 'attack' foiled

Danish police have shot and wounded a Somali man who tried to break into the home of a cartoonist whose 2005 drawings of Prophet Muhammad outraged Muslims around the world.

Intelligence authorities said the 28-year-old suspect was armed with an axe and knife when he attempted to enter the home of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard in the eastern city of Aarhus on Friday.

Michael Larsen, a police spokesman, said authorities arrived at the house after receiving an alarm alerting them to the intruder.

"[The authorities] found a person and he attacked the police with an axe and a knife. He was shot in the leg and the hand and he is in hospital [now]," Larsen told Al Jazeera.

He said police officials are treating the incident as an attempted "murder attack".

'Ties to al-Shabaab'

Officials from the Danish security and intelligence service, Pet, said the suspect, a Danish resident, had close ties to the Somali group, Al Shabaab.

"The attempted murder of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is linked to terrorism," the agency said in a statement.

"The person arrested... has close links with the Somali terrorist organisation Al-Shabaab as well as with the heads of al-Qaeda in east Africa."

Westergaard has been under police protection since his controversial cartoons sparked violent protests in a number of countries around the world in 2006 and again when they were republished in 2008.

Several Danish embassies were attacked by angry crowds and several dozen people were killed during riots. (english.aljazeera.net/photo:i.dailymail.co.uk)