Somali ax man gets 9 years for cartoonist attack

[February 04, 2011]  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- A Somali man convicted of terrorism for breaking into the home of a Danish cartoonist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

The Aarhus city court ruled Friday that Muhideen Mohammed Geelle should be expelled from Denmark after serving the sentence.

The 29-year-old entered cartoonist Kurt Westergaard's home armed with an ax on New Year's Day 2010. Westergaard locked himself inside a panic room and was unharmed. Police arrived and shot Geelle in the leg.

The court on Thursday found Geelle guilty of terrorism.

Westergaard's drawing was one of 12 cartoons of Muhammad published by a Danish newspaper in September 2005, triggering violent protests across the Muslim world four months later.

[Associated Press]

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