Police in Ireland have arrested seven suspected Muslim extremists in connection with alleged plans to kill a Swedish cartoonist who drew cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

The seven suspects, four men and three women aged between 20 and 50, are believed to have come from Yemen and Morocco. Following an international operation, they were arrested in the southern Irish towns of Cork and Waterford where they were living as refugees.

The cartoonist, Lars Vilks, drew the three cartoons in 2007 for an exhibition in Sweden. When they appeared, they sparked outrage among many Muslims. An al-Qaeda front organisation offered 150,000 US dollars to anyone who slit Mr Vilks' throat or 100,000 dollars for his murder by other means.
 
The uproar echoed that caused by the 2005 publication in a Danish newspaper of 12 cartoons concerning on Islam. The cartoons included one in which the Prophet Muhammad was shown depicted wearing a hat in the shape of a bomb.