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 Wednesday.
Lars Vilks -- the target of an alleged murder plot involving a U.S. woman who dubbed herself "Jihad Jane" -- said he has no regrets about the drawing, which is considered deeply offensive by Muslims.
"I'm actually not interested in offending the prophet. The point is actually to show that you can," Vilks said 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 favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.
Vilks submitted the drawing to an exhibit at a Swedish cultural heritage center, which turned it down, citing security concerns. The issue went unnoticed until a Swedish newspaper printed the drawing with an editorial defending 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-Qaida in Iraq put a $100,000 bounty on his head in September 2007.
The 63-year-old artist said he has now built his own defense system, including a "homemade" safe room and a barbed-wire sculpture that could electrocute potential intruders. He also has an ax "to chop down" anyone trying to climb through the windows of his home.
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 U.S. -- were not professionals but "rather low-tech."
He said he had learned from U.S. media reports that Colleen R. LaRose, who called herself Jihad Jane, 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.
Federal authorities say Colleen LaRose, a caretaker in Pennsburg, a small town north of Philadelphia, developed a daring online alter ego, refashioning herself as "Jihad Jane" while helping recruit and finance Muslim terrorists -- and eventually moving overseas to kill an artist she perceived as an enemy to Islam. LaRose, 46, was charged Tuesday with conspiring with jihadist fighters and pledging to commit murder in the name of a Muslim holy war or jihad. The indictment was announced hours after authorities arrested seven suspected terrorists in Ireland allegedly linked to LaRose, who has been in prison since her Oct. 15 arrest while returning to the U.S.
