Prints of Prophet Mohamed cartoon go on sale in Denmark

COPENHAGEN: Denmark s Free Press Society is selling prints of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohamed published by a Danish newspaper in 2005 that angered the Muslim world, it said on its website Wednesday. One thousand prints of the cartoon, featuring the prophet wearing a turban with a lit fuse stuck in it, are up for sale for $250 (?188 euros) on the group s website. Each print is numbered and signed by the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Now you can own an exclusive print of the most famous picture of our time, the site said. Westergaard, 73, is one of 12 cartoonists whose drawings of the Muslim prophet were first published in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005, sparking controversy among Muslims worldwide. He has since been the subject of threats, forcing him to live in hiding. Two Tunisians were arrested in Denmark last year on suspicion of planning to murder Westergaard, and later released without trial after they appealed a government order for their expulsion on national security grounds. The image won Kurt Westergaard international fame, but it has also forced him to live under constant police protection, the Free Press Society said on its website. Despite threats and concrete murder plots planned by Islamists, he has nonetheless never expressed any regret and never apologized for being a free artist. Calls to the organization were not returned. The 12 cartoons were considered offensive by many Muslims and their publication sparked violent protests worldwide in January and February 2006. Demonstrators burned Danish flags in protests that culminated in February 2006 with the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut and dozens of deaths in Nigeria, Libya and Pakistan. Last week Turkey initially opposed the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO s next secretary general, citing among other factors the former Danish prime minister s defense of Jyllands-Posten s right to print the cartoons. -AFP