Mohammed Cartoon Goes on the Market

Kurt Westergaard, the artist behind the most controversial of the Danish cartoons that sparked fierce Muslim protest in 2005, is looking to sell his drawing. The sketch of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban has sent Westergaard into hiding, under police protection, and potential buyers may be scared off at the prospect of a similar backlash. But ideas for the drawing's fate abound, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The artist's wife thinks it should go to a well-off Muslim who can publicly burn it. Westergaard would rather not destroy his work, however. "It is a symbol of democracy and freedom of expression. I think I should have a little money for this," he says. But the only party publicly admitting interest is the Danish Royal Library, which can't afford a big payout, and says it doesn't plan to get into a bidding war with "capitalist sharks." (More Danish Mohammed cartoons stories.)