Reward Offered For Assassination of Artist Who Drew Offensive Muhammad Cartoon

CBS News reported on Saturday that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has offered a $100,000 reward for the assassination of artist Lars Vilks, whose drawing of Muhammad's head on a dog was published in a Swedish newspaper last month. (See prior posting.) Al-Baghdadi said the reward would be increased to $150,000 if Vilks was "slaughtered like a lamb". He also offered a $50,000 reward for the killing of the editor of Nerikes Allehanda, the paper that printed Vilks' drawing. Al-Baghdadi also threatened strikes on Swedish companies if the "crusader state of Sweden" did not apologize. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has already invited 22 ambassadors who represent Muslim countries in Sweden to a meeting to discuss their concerns.