Swedish cartoonist's residence attacked

Stockholm: The home of a Swedish artist who once drew a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has been hit by a suspected arson attack, police said on Saturday.

Lars Vilks, who lives in Nyhamnslage in southern Sweden, was not at home during the attack late on Friday night and no one was reported injured.

It was the latest in a week of attacks on the 53-year-old cartoonist, who was assaulted on Tuesday by a man while he lectured at a university and saw his website apparently attacked by a hacker on Wednesday.

Police were alerted just before noon on Saturday, as people passing by the artist's house noted that several windows had been smashed. When officers arrived, they discovered plastic bottles filled with gasoline and fire damage on the surface of the building. Attackers are also suspected of having tried setting the inside of the house on fire, but the flames are thought to have fizzled out.

Police have no suspects in the case, police spokeswoman Sofie Osterheim said.

Vilks, who often jokes about the threats he has received since 2007, including from Al Qaida, told the press that the latest attack had not caused him to fear for his life.