Swedish ‘Mohammad’ cartoonist Lars Vilks killed in car crash By Reuters

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who stirred worldwide controversy in 2007 with drawings depicting the Prophet Mohammad with the physique of a canine, was killed in a automotive crash close to the southern city of Markaryd on Sunday, police stated.

Vilks, 75, who had been dwelling beneath police safety because the drawings had been printed, was travelling in a police automobile which collided with a truck. Two cops had been additionally killed.

“It is a very tragic incident. It’s now vital to all of us that we do the whole lot we will to analyze what occurred and what prompted the collision,” Swedish police stated in a press release on Monday.

“Initially, there’s nothing that factors to anybody else being concerned.”

Most Muslims think about any depiction of the founding father of Islam as offensive.

Because the publication of the cartoons, Vilks had been dwelling beneath round the clock police guard following threats in opposition to his life. He had a bounty placed on his head and his home was fire-bombed.

In 2015, one individual was killed in Copenhagen, Denmark, at a gathering meant to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of an Iranian fatwa in opposition to British author Salman Rushdie, which Vilks attended.

Vilks was extensively seen because the supposed goal.

Vilks had stated that the cartoons weren’t supposed to impress Muslims, however to problem political correctness within the artwork world.