Danes break up cartoon-linked terror plot

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Danish authorities say arrests have been made in an alleged terrorist assassination plot that may have stemmed from outrage over a newspaper cartoon.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service released a statement Tuesday saying a counter-terrorism operation had netted several suspects in western Denmark and disrupted an alleged assassination plot in its early stages.

"This morning's operation must first and foremost be seen as a preventive measure where the aim has been to stop a crime from being committed," the statement said.

The statement did not specify who the alleged target was. However, CNN said a Danish newspaper stated the intended victim was Kurt Westergaard, the paper's cartoonist. Westergaard drew the wrath of Muslim protests after Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten published a drawing depicting Mohammed, which is forbidden under Islam as blasphemous.