Court orders Somali man in custody for attacking cartoonist (Extra)

Jan 2, 2010, 17:11 GMT

Copenhagen - A Danish court Saturday ordered a Somali-born man to be held in custody on suspicion of attempting to murder a Danish cartoonist at the centre of the 2005 controversy over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

The 28-year-old broke into cartoonist Kurt Westergaard's home late Friday armed with an axe and a knife.

The man was arrested after he was shot in the hand and knee when he threw an axe at a police officer alerted to the scene by Westergaard.

The man's injuries were not life-threatening, and he was wheeled into court on a stretcher with his arm and leg in a cast.

The suspect was also charged with attempted murder of a police officer.

The court ruled he was to remain in custody until January 27 and the first two weeks he was to be kept in isolation.

The proceedings were held behind closed doors. Although denying the attempted murders, he admitted he had been at Westergaard's home near Arhus.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) said Friday's incident was a terrorism-related attack.

According to the PET, the suspect has ties with the radical Islamist al-Shabaab militia and al-Qaeda in East Africa.