Islamism - 7

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[size="6"]Swedish artist has no regrets over prophet drawing[/size]









Stockholm: The point of a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was to show that artistic freedom allows mockery of all religions, including the most sacred symbols of Islam, the Swedish artist who created it said on Wednesday.







Lars Vilks - the target of an alleged murder plot involving an American woman who dubbed herself "Jihad Jane" – said he has no regrets about the drawing, which is considered deeply offensive by many Muslims.



"I'm actually not interested in offending the prophet. The point is actually to show that you can," Vilks said in an interview in Stockholm. "There is nothing so holy you can't offend it."



Vilks made his rough sketch showing Muhammad's head on a dog's body more than a year after 12 Danish newspaper cartoons of the prophet sparked furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006.



Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favourable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.



Vilks submitted the drawing to an exhibit at a Swedish cultural heritage centre, which turned it down, citing security concerns. The issue went largely unnoticed until a Swedish newspaper printed the drawing with an editorial defending the freedom of expression.



The publication led to protests from Muslim countries, and briefly revived a heated debate in the West and the Muslim world about religious sensitivities and the limits of free speech.



It also led to numerous death threats against Vilks, who was temporarily moved to a secret location after al Qaeda in Iraq put a USD 100,000 bounty on his head in September 2007.



The 63-year-old artist said he has now built his own defence system, including a "homemade" safe room and a barbed-wire sculpture that could electrocute potential intruders. He also has an axe "to chop down" anyone trying to climb through the windows of his home, in southern Sweden.



"If something happens, I know exactly what to do," Vilks said.



He said he believes the suspects in the latest alleged plot to kill him — seven people arrested in Ireland and a Pennsylvania woman held in the US — were not professionals but "rather low-tech”.



He said he had learned from American media reports that Colleen R LaRose, who called herself JihadJane in a YouTube video, had visited the area where he lives, but he didn't know whether that was correct. "I'm glad she didn't kill me," Vilks said, with a half-smile.



Nalin Pekgul, a moderate Muslim and high-ranking member of Sweden's opposition Social Democratic Party, told Swedish Radio the threats against Vilks were unacceptable but added his drawing had profoundly hurt Muslims.



"A dog is unclean. To describe Muhammad as a dog is like saying you are unclean" to Muslims, said Pekgul, a Kurdish immigrant from Turkey.



An eccentric man with dishevelled gray hair and thick-lensed glasses, Vilks referred to himself as "the artist" and described his life as a movie plot.



"It's a good story. It's about the bad guys and a good guy, and they try to kill him," he said.





http://www.zeenews.com/news610292.html