Cartoonist honored for Mohammed portrait

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 23 (UPI) -- The Danish artist who drew a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban has received a press freedom award.

The Danish Free Press Society presented Kurt Westergaard with its Sappho Award at a ceremony Thursday evening, the Copenhagen Post reported. The award is named after the Greek poet Sappho.

Farshad Kholghi, a Muslim actor who belongs to the society's Internet publication, presented the award, saying he is "proud" of Westergaard. The artist received a $4,200 prize and a statue of Sappho designed by sculptor Uwe Max Jensen.

The publication of the Westergaard's cartoon and others in the right-wing newspaper Jyllands Posten set off an uproar in the Muslim world, triggering boycotts of Danish products and attacks on Danish embassies. The cartoons varied, with at least one attacking the newspaper, but Westergaard's was the one found most offensive.