Denmark sentences cartoonist attacker to 9 years

A Danish court on Friday sentenced a Somali man to nine years in prison followed by expulsion for trying to kill a cartoonist whose 2005 drawing of the Prophet Mohammad provoked Muslim outrage around the world. The court in the city of Aarhus sentenced Muhudiin Mohamed Geele to be expelled from Denmark and banned from the country for life after serving his sentence, a police official said. Geele, 29, broke into the home of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with an axe and a sharp knife on New Year's Day last year. He was convicted on Thursday of an attempted act of terrorism and attempted manslaughter. The court said in a statement the attack was an attempt to frighten the population and destabilise society and thus constituted an act of terror. From September 2009 to the time of the attack, the convicted man sought information on the Internet many times about militant Islamic groups' opinions on the Mohammad drawings and Westergaard, the court said in the statement. The prosecutor had asked for a 12-year sentence, but the defence lawyer had argued for no more than six years and said he would lodge an appeal, Danish media reported. Geele had pleaded not guilty to the terror and manslaughter charges, and said he had entered the cartoonist's home intending only to frighten him. He was acquitted of another manslaughter charge, brought because he threw his axe at a police officer who arrived to arrest him, but was convicted of assaulting the officer. On Jan. 1 last year, Westergaard, 75, became aware of the man trying to break into his home and fled to a secure "panic room". He then alerted the police and was unhurt after police wounded the intruder and detained him. During the trial, the court heard testimony about how the man wielded his axe, first to break into the house and then to try to chop through the steel-reinforced door of Westergaard's bathroom -- the secure room of his house. Westergaard's drawing of the Prophet with a turban resembling a bomb 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, journalists and the newspaper. Most Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam offensive, and protests resulted in at least 50 deaths. Westergaard's cartoon was the one that attracted the most attention. He has lived for years under police protection following numerous threats against him and the newspaper. On Dec. 29, Danish and Swedish police arrested five men suspected of plotting a "Mumbai-style" attack to kill as many people as possible at the Copenhagen building that houses the newspaper. Three of the men remain in custody in Denmark and one in Sweden, facing charges of planning an act of terrorism. The fifth man was later released.

American citizen Raymond Davis now with a judicial magistrate

As the US toughened its stance for the release of its citizen who killed two persons in Lahore, Pakistan's government has been reluctant to publicly reveal the true status of the killer, saying the matter is sub-judice. Washington has once again called upon Pakistan's government to abide by its obligations under international and Pakistani law and immediately release Raymond Davis who gunned down two persons in Lahore's crowded marketplace on 26 January. The US authorities have repeatedly claimed that the murderer enjoys diplomatic immunities under the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations. Reeling under pressure, the external affairs ministry has refused to be publicly drawn into the controversy of American murderer Raymond Davis. Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson Abdul Basit said, "I am not in a position to comment in the Lahore incident. I do not have any information to share at this stage when the matter is sub judice before the court." However sources within the government are saying that Raymond Davis' diplomatic status was dubious and Pakistan's foreign office had not issued the 'diplomatic card' to Raymond Davis, a US consular employee in Lahore. Some of the questions frequently asked by media persons from government officials are: How many more Americans like Raymond Davis are present in Pakistan? Does the foreign office keep a record of such people? Why the foreign office is not clarifying its position on the status of Raymond Davis? Has the driver who killed the third person while rushing to rescue Davis left Pakistan? Officials of the internal and external affairs ministries have so far failed to address these queries. Meanwhile, every day a new petition is filed against US citizen in Lahore's district, sessions and High Court. A writ petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday, seeking directions that the government prosecute Davis for allegedly committing forgery. One of the petitioners, Barrister Iqbal Jafree, submitted that Davis had obtained a visa under a false name, which made the whole process doubtful and his visa stood cancelled ab initio (from the beginning). Yet another petition was filed in the LHC, challenging the alleged special treatment being given to Davis. A local court in Lahore has already extended Davis's physical remand to another eight days as police investigators into the double murder case have not found the murderer's claim of self-defence convincing. According to the investigators, Davis's act was an excessive and disproportionate use of force, which was against the definition of self-defence as per the law of the land. Without having been fired at or threatened to death, the police sources said, Davis killed the two young men by excessive and disproportionate use of force. While requesting to extend his remand, the investigation officer Munir Ahmed told the court that they are anxious to get answers from the killer to questions like who did he call for help after committing a crime? Why did he gun down the two men without having being fired at? Who was in the back-up vehicle that killed another young man? What was he doing there? Why was he carrying illegal weapon, global positioning system, four magazines, more than 70 bullets, pictures of sensitive installations? What was his assignment in Pakistan? What was his real identity? And so on.

Mubarak fears Egypt chaos

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Thursday that he would like to step down after a wave of massive public protests but he fears there would be chaos if he did so. I am fed up and after 62 years in public service, I have had enough and now I want to go, said Mubarak in an interview with a Tv channel. "If I resign today there will be chaos," he said. Mubarak, who remains inside his heavily guarded presidential palace in Cairo, said he was troubled by the violence that erupted during the protests and that his government was not responsible for it, the TV channel said. He described President Barack Obama as a very good man, but wavered when asked if he felt that the United States had betrayed him.

Turkey explosions

At least 12 people were killed and 30 injured in two different explosions in Turkey. An explosion thought to have been caused by a buildup of gas tore through a factory making generators, killing six people and injuring at least 24 in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday. Two floors of the plant collapsed in the explosion, and some five people were believed to be trapped in the debris, news channels reported.  A second explosion in Ankara's industrial zone brought the death toll to 12.