Copenhagen - Threatened Danish newspaper cartoonist Kurt Westergaard has been asked to leave the hotel he has been staying at, media reports said Tuesday. "I suspected this could happen," Westergaard told the Berlingske Tidende newspaper after the hotel management asked him and his wife to leave by Thursday, citing fears for the safety of other guests.
Westergaard's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban was one of 12 published in newspapers that sparked violent protests in 2006 by Muslims around in the world.
A week ago, security police said they uncovered an alleged plot to murder Westergaard and arrested three men in the city of Aarhus. Two Tunisian nationals face deportation.
Acting on advice from police, the cartoonist has since November lived at secret locations over the alleged plot.
Leading Danish newspapers on Wednesday republished the cartoon in what was said to be a stand for freedom of expression.
