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Danish Police Thwart Attack on Muhammad Cartoon Newspaper

Danish police have arrested five men with alleged Islamic terrorist ties they say were planning an imminent shooting spree inside the newspaper offices of Jyllands Posten, the paper that published the 2005 cartoons that derided Muhammad.

Four of the five men reside in Sweden.

Danish media described the suspects arrested in Denmark as: a 44-year-old Tunisian national; a 29-year-old Lebanese-born Swedish national; a 30-year-old Swedish citizen of unknown ancestry; and a 26-year-old Iraqi seeking asylum in Denmark. A 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin was also arrested in Stockholm.

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One of the artists who created the objectionable cartoons, Lars Vilks, resides in Sweden. (Another, Kurt Westergaard, was previously attacked in his home in Denmark.) So far authorities say there is no link to the bombing in Sweden earlier this month, before which an e-mail was sent out referencing the cartoons. The BBC has more here.

Tahawwur Rana, the co-defendant of Mumbai bombing complicitor David Headley, is scheduled to start trial in Chicago on Feb. 14 for his alleged role in a plot against the newspaper. The group believed responsible for that planned attack is Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT.)

Mumbai is also on high alert, believing a terror attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is imminent over the New Year's holiday. Security has been stepped up, particularly at the places at which Headley did reconnaissance missions for the group. Security has also been increased in Delhi and Goa. (Coastal areas are considered particularly risky as authorities fear the terrorists may arrive by boat.)

So, the question seems to be, is Lashkar-e-Taiba behind the planned Danish attack, or are those arrested merely terror-wannabes, a small band of home-grown terrorists, or something else? One expert in Denmark says the attack thwarted today