Judge extends custody for cartoonist´s attacker

Somali man, accused of trying to kill cartoonist, over a caricature of Islam´s Prophet Mohammed, will remain in custody for another 4 weeks.

A judge in Denmark on Wednesday remanded in custody for another four weeks a Somali man accused of trying to kill a cartoonist over a caricature of Islam's Prophet Mohammed earlier this month.

The 28-year-old, whose identity has not been disclosed, is accused of breaking into the home of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard on January 1 and threatening to kill him with an axe and a knife.

Wednesday's decision was taken following a hearing held behind closed doors at the Aarhus court in central Denmark.

The judge also agreed to the prosecution's request to charge the suspect with an attempted act of terrorism, in addition to the previous charges of attempted murder of Westergaard and the attempted murder of a policeman.

He risks a life sentence if he is found guilty of the terrorism charge, prosecutor Marian Thomsen said.

The man has denied the charges.

Danish intelligence agency PET has said the suspect has ties to Somalia's radical Shebab Islamic movement and leaders of Al-Qaeda in east Africa. PET chief Jakob Scharf said it appeared, however, that he had acted alone.

''The investigation is underway to know which ties'' he had abroad and ''will continue until the spring'', another prosecutor, Poul Gade, told Danish TV2 News, refusing to disclose any details of the inquiry.

Westergaard, 74, was badly shaken by the attack at his home at Viby, near Aarhus, but was unharmed. He hid in a fortified bathroom.

He drew the most controversial of 12 caricatures of the Prophet published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 that were considered offensive by many Muslims and sparked violent protests worldwide as well as a string of death threats.

His cartoon depicted Mohammed wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb.