Saturday, January 22, 2011

Danish cartoonist claims he narrowly escaped death when Somali attacked

The 29-year-old Somali defendant said that he had no plans of killing the cartoonist, but only broke into the house to frighten the man, who had mocked the prophet.

Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, whose 2005 cartoon of Prophet Mohammed sparked an outrage in the Muslim world, on Thursday recounted how he narrowly escaped certain death when a Somali man attacked his home last year.

The 75-year-old's comments came during the trial of his accused attacker, Mohamed Geele, in the central Danish court.

"He was chopping so violently with his ax on the bathroom door that it began to vibrate... I thought I was going to die. It would have been certain death if he had managed to break it (the door) down," the cartoonist said.

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old Somali defendant said that he had no plans of killing the cartoonist. He broke into his house only to frighten the man, who had mocked the prophet.

Geele broke into Westergaard's home in Visby, near Aarhus, on the night of Jan. 1 last year when the cartoonist was alone at the house with his granddaughter. The cartoonist locked himself in the bathroom and called the police immediately. By the time police came, Geele had allegedly destroyed the man's computer, a television set and banged on the bathroom door with his ax chanting, "You must die! You are going to Hell!"

On Wednesday, Prosecutor Kristen Dyrman played Westergaard's two frightened calls he made the night of the incident before the nine-member jury.

"He is breaking down the door! It's very violent. You must come immediately," the cartoonist screamed, insisting, "You must come now or I won't survive. He is going to kill me!"

Source: www.allheadlinenews.com

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