Swedish prosecutor charges 2 men with arson for attack on Muhammad cartoonist’s home

Sweden charges 2 with attack on cartoonist’s home

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish prosecutor charged two men with arson Tuesday for an attempted attack on the home of an artist whose cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad infuriated some Muslims.

Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson said evidence found by investigators linked a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old to the case. Both have denied the charges, presented in the Helsingborg District Court.

Persson said the suspects tried to set fire to the inside of the house with flammable liquid, but the flames fizzled out.

Lars Vilks, who lives in Nyhamnslage in southern Sweden, was not at home during the incident May 14 . The attack was discovered by passers-by who noticed a smashed window.

Police said they found plastic bottles filled with gasoline outside the house and a coat containing a key to one of the men’s apartments.

The arson attempt was one of several attacks in May on the 64-year-old cartoonist, who was assaulted while giving a university lecture. His Web site was also hit by a hacker.

Vilks has faced numerous threats over his 2007 sketch of Muhammad, including from al-Qaida.

American investigators have said that he was the target of an alleged murder plot earlier this year, involving an American woman who went under the nickname “Jihad Jane.” She now faces the possibility of life in prison, but has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Vilks depicted Muhammad more than a year after 12 Danish newspaper cartoons of the prophet sparked furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006. Images of Muhammad, even favorable ones, are considered blasphemous by many Muslims.