“The arrested man has according to PET’s information close relations to the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab and Al Qaeda leaders in eastern Africa,’’ he said.
Scharf said the man is suspected of having been involved in terrorism-related activities during a stay in east Africa. He had been under PET’s surveillance but not in connection with Westergaard, he said.
The man, who had a staying permit in Denmark, was to be charged with attempted murder for trying to kill Westergaard and a police officer, Scharf said. His name was not released in line with Danish privacy rules.
It was unclear whether the suspect managed to get inside the home of the 75-year-old cartoonist in Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city.
Westergaard, who had his 5-year-old granddaughter on a sleepover, called police and sought shelter in a specially made safe room in the house, Preben Nielsen, of the Aarhus police, said. Police arrived two minutes later and tried to arrest the assailant, who wielded an ax at a police officer. The officer then shot the man in a knee and a hand.
Westergaard could not be reached for comment. He told his employer, the Jyllands-Posten daily, that the assailant shouted “revenge’’ and “blood’’ as he tried to enter the bathroom where Westergaard and the child had sought shelter.
“My grandchild did fine,’’ Westergaard said, according to the newspaper’s Web edition. “It was scary. It was close. Really close. But we did it.’’
Westergaard remains a potential target for extremists nearly five years after he drew a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban. The drawing was printed along with 11 others in Jyllands-Posten in 2005.
