From Christina Anderson and J. David Goodman, the New York Times:  Three men arrested in Denmark on Wednesday on suspicion of planning to attack a newspaper that had published satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad appeared in court on terrorism and weapons charges in Copenhagen on Thursday, and a fourth was set to appear in Sweden. …

The charges included preparing to attack the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which published the cartoons of Muhammad in 2005 to affirm what it called freedom of expression. But the drawings were seen as blasphemous and a deliberate provocation by many Muslims, and prompted rioting in some countries and repeated attempts at violent retribution.

According to the charge sheet, the men were accused of being in possession of a machine pistol, a silencer and a 9 mm pistol, along with ammunition for both.

The suspects acquired the weapons in Sweden, the charge sheet said, “then on December 29, 2010, drove into Denmark from Sweden, where using the weapons, they intended to attack Jyllands-Posten and kill an unknown number of people.” The alleged plot “failed when the accused were arrested” on Wednesday. …

Several of the men were included in a recent list of about 200 potential terrorists in Sweden, said Anders Danielsson, the head of Sweden’s security police. The Stockholm daily Expressen said that at least one suspect had been arrested twice before on terrorism charges, in 2007 and 2009, and later released. …

Lars Barfoed, the Danish justice minister, called the latest plot “the most serious terror attempt in Denmark,” local media reported.  (photo: Mathias Christensen/Polfoto/AP)

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