Two charged over prophet cartoonist murder plot

Two men were tonight charged in connection with an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog.

Algerian Ali Charafe Damache and Abdul-Salam Mansour Al-Jehani from Libya were brought before a special late night court sitting.

Damache was charged with sending a menacing text message while Al-Jehani was charged with an immigration offence.

The men were arrested last week over an international conspiracy to kill Lars Vilks, whose controversial depictions of the Muslim prophet were printed in a newspaper in Sweden in 2007.

The pair were remanded in custody by a District Court judge in Waterford, in the south east of the country.

They were refused bail after detectives from An Garda Siochana warned they were not convinced the men’s identities were authentic.

The men were among seven people arrested last Tuesday morning during a series of raids by anti-terrorist units acting on intelligence from the CIA, FBI and European agencies.

Damache, whose address was given as John Collins House, High Street, Waterford, was charged with sending a message of a menacing nature on a phone on January 9.

The 44-year-old, who has been living in Ireland for about ten years, swore on the Koran before taking the stand in an attempt to secure bail.

He also chanted Muslim slogans as he was brought into the courthouse.

Al-Jehani, 32, of Johnstown, Waterford, was charged with an immigration offence after allegedly giving a false name.

He is accused of presenting false documentation under the Immigration Act 2004.