Swedish Newspapers Reprint "Prophet" Mohammed Cartoon In Response to Islamist Assassination Plot Against Cartoonist

STOCKHOLM: Leading Swedish newspapers on Wednesday published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog by a caricaturist after he was targetted by an alleged assassination plot.

Sweden's paper of reference Dagens Nyheter published the controversial drawing, insisting artist Lars Vilks "is not alone in this conflict" after seven Muslims were arrested in Ireland for allegedly plotting his murder.

"A threat against him is, in the end, a threat against all Swedish people," the paper said in an editorial.

Irish police on Tuesday arrested the seven -- four men and three women -- suspected of conspiracy to murder Vilks because of his cartoon, in an operation coordinated with US and European security agencies.

Police said there was a plot to assassinate Vilks, who has a 100,000-dollar (74,000-euro) bounty on his head from an Al-Qaeda-linked group