Somali attacker of Danish cartoonist found guilty

COPENHAGEN: A Danish court on Thursday found a Somali man guilty of attempted terrorism for trying to kill a cartoonist whose 2005 drawing of the Prophet Mohammad stirred Muslim outrage around the globe.

The 29-year-old Somali, who broke into the home of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with an axe on New Year's Day last year, was also convicted of attempted manslaughter, a police official said.

The man was acquitted on another attempted manslaughter charge, brought because he threw his axe at a police officer who arrived to arrest him, but was convicted of violence against the officer, police said.

The court in Aarhus was expected to sentence the man later on Thursday or on Friday.

Westergaard's caricature of the Prophet was one of a dozen cartoons lampooning Islam published by the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, which led to violent protests in 2006 and threats to cartoonists, other journalists and the newspaper.