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       Danish Police Detain 2 Men Suspected of Ties to Copenhagen Attacks

   by VOA News

   Danish police say they have detained two men suspected of helping a
   gunman who killed two people in separate shootings in Copenhagen
   Saturday.

   Police said on Monday the two men are suspected of aiding and abetting
   the 22-year-old alleged gunman in carrying out shootings at a
   free-speech event and at Copenhagen's main synagogue.

   Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called the two shootings a
   "cynical act of terror against Denmark."

   Police shot and killed the Denmark-born alleged gunman early Sunday
   after he opened fire on officers near a train station. His previous
   criminal record included violence and weapons offenses, according to
   police.

   Danish intelligence chief Jens Madsen said investigators believe the
   gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism.

   In the first attack, a gunman with an automatic weapon killed one
   person and wounded three police officers at a cafe. Danish media
   identified the deceased as film director Finn Norgaard, 55.

   The free-speech event was also attended by Swedish cartoonist Lars
   Vilks, who is known for provocative drawings, including a 2007 cartoon
   of the Prophet Muhammad that led to threats against the 68 year old.
   The French ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray, also attended the
   discussion. Both were unharmed in the shooting.

   Hours later, volunteer Dan Uzan was guarding a bat mitzvah ceremony
   when he was killed in the synagogue shooting, which wounded two police
   officers.

   In light of the violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
   urged Jewish people in Europe to immigrate to Israel, as he did
   following a deadly attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris last month.

   French officials drew parallels between the acts of violence in
   Copenhagen and those in Paris.

   Speaking from the Danish capital on Sunday, French Interior Minister
   Bernard Cazeneuve observed the similar reactions in both countries.

   "I saw this morning the same sadness I saw in the terrified gaze of
   Parisians in the month of January. The same sadness, the same fright,
   the same dignity, the same contemplation and the same sorrow," he said
   at a news conference.

   The French ambassador to Denmark was expected to talk at the cafe
   Saturday about the impact of last month's attacks in France on the
   offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and the kosher grocery.
   Those earlier attacks by Muslim extremists left 20 people dead,
   including the attackers. The French magazine was known for mocking
   religion and had published several cartoons depicting the Prophet
   Muhammad.

   Threats and attacks against cartoonists whose work has angered some
   Muslims began with the publication of 12 editorial cartoons in the
   Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. The paper said the
   cartoons, most of which depicted the Prophet Muhammad, were part of an
   attempt to contribute to the debate about criticism of Islam and
   self-censorship.

   The cartoons eventually led to protests around the world, including
   violent demonstrations and riots in some Muslim countries.

   Between October 2005 and early January 2006, examples of the cartoons
   were reprinted in major European newspapers from the Netherlands,
   Germany, Scandinavia, Romania and Switzerland. After major
   international protests, they were re-published around the globe, but
   primarily in continental Europe.

   Many violent plots related to the cartoons have been discovered in the
   years since.

   Artists other than cartoonists have also been the targets of Muslim ire
   for their work. British-Indian author Salman Rushdie's novel Satanic
   Verses led to death threats made against him, including a fatwa calling
   for his assassination issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the
   Supreme Leader of Iran, in 1989.

   Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was killed in November 2004 by a
   Dutch-Moroccan Muslim angered by Van Gogh's short film Submission,
   which criticized the treatment of women in Islam.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/danish-police-detain-2-men-suspected-of-ties-to-copenhagen-attacks/2645656.html