Mohammed cartoonist Kurt Westergaard to receive round-the-clock security but at a steep cost

After the apparent attempt on Kurt Westergaard’s life last week, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service PET will resume the 24-hour surveillance and protection of the Mohammed cartoonist.

With 30 agents needed to provide round-the-clock cover and the average annual salary for a PET agent ranging from 650,000 to 750,000 kroner, the cost of protecting Westergaard will amount to about 19.5 million kroner a year, according to Politiken newspaper.

The decision to provide extra security for Westergaard was made by Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen after consulting PET head Jakob Scharf.

Westergaard’s house in Århus, Jutland is already kitted out with special security locks on the doors, video surveillance, panic alarms and a special reinforced safe room, where he sought sanctuary when an armed man broke into his home on New Year’s Day.

Meanwhile, police have been presented with new evidence in the case of the attack on Westergaard.

TV2 reports that a local news crew, which arrived on the scene shortly after the attack, found a SIM card. It is now being examined by police technicians and while police won’t confirm that it belongs to the 28-year-old suspect, they have said that ‘the place of purchase [of the card] is very interesting’.

Police hope that if the SIM card does belong to the suspect, investigators can trace who the man has previously been in contact with.