Swedish Lars Vilks Who Drew Offensive Cartoon Killed in Car Crash
Vilks, 75, who had been living under police protection since the drawings were published, was travelling in a police vehicle which collided with a truck. Two police officers were also killed.
"This is a very tragic incident. It is now important to all of us that we do everything we can to investigate what happened and what caused the collision," Swedish police said in a statement on Monday, Reuters reported.
"Initially, there is nothing that points to anyone else being involved."
Muslims consider any depiction of the Holy Prophet of Islam as offensive.
Since the publication of the cartoons, Vilks had been living under round-the-clock police guard following threats against his life. He had a bounty put on his head and his house was fire-bombed.
Vilks had said that the cartoons were not intended to provoke Muslims, but to challenge what he called political correctness in the art world.
The depiction also sparked diplomatic friction, with Sweden’s then prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt meeting ambassadors from several Muslim countries to ease tensions.
