Threatened Swedish artist reportedly dead in road accident

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish news media are reporting that the Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had lived under police protection since his 2007 sketch of the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body brought death threats, has died from a traffic accident. The accident reportedly involved a truck colliding with a civilian police car in which Vilks and his police protection were traveling, news media said. The news agency TT says police confirmed that the 75-yeard-old Vilks was traveling in the car with two police officers, and the newspaper Dagens Nyheter says the artist’s partner has confirmed his death. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Vilks was largely unknown outside Sweden until he drew a sketch of Muhammad with a dog’s body, an animal concerned unclean by conservative Muslims.