COPENHAGEN– Police shot a Somali man wielding an ax and a knife as he tried tobreak into the home of an artist whose cartoon of the Prophet Muhammadwith a bomb-shaped turban outraged the Muslim world, the head of Denmark's intelligence agency said Saturday.

Jakob Scharf said in a statement that a 28-year-old man with ties to al-Qaidaattempted to enter Kurt Westergaard's home in Aarhus Friday night. ButWestergaard pressed an alarm and police arrived minutes later.

Theattack on the artist, whose rendering was among 12 that led to thetorching of Danish diplomatic offices in predominantly Muslim countriesin 2006, was "terror related," Scharf said. He said the man would becharged with attempted murder.

Westergaard,whose 5-year-old granddaughter was in the home on a sleepover, soughtshelter in a specially made safe room when the suspect broke a windowof the home, said Preben Nielsen of the Aarhus police.

Officers arrived two minutes later and tried to arrest the assailant, who wielded an ax at a police officer.The officer then shot the man in a knee and a hand, authorities said.Nielsen said the suspect was hospitalized but his life was not indanger.

The suspect's name was not released in line with Danish privacy rules.

"The arrested man has, according to PET's information, close relations to the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab and al-Qaida leaders in eastern Africa," Scharf said. PET is Denmark's intelligence agency.

Scharfsaid without elaborating that the man is suspected of having beeninvolved in terror-related activities in east Africa. He had been underPET's surveillance but not in connection with Westergaard, he said

The man, who had a permit to stay in Denmark, was to be charged Saturday with attempted murder for trying to kill Westergaard and the police officer, Scharf said.

Thesuspect got inside the home of the 75-year-old cartoonist in Denmark'ssecond largest city, 125 miles (200 kilometers) northwest of Copenhagen.

Westergaard could not be reached for comment. However, he told his employer, the Jyllands-Postendaily, that the assailant shouted "revenge" and "blood" as he tried toenter the bathroom where Westergaard and the child had sought shelter.

"Mygrandchild did fine," Westergaard said, according to the newspaper'sWeb edition. "It was scary. It was close. Really close. But we did it."

Westergaard was "quite shocked" but was not injured, Nielsen said.

An umbrella organization for moderate Muslims in Denmark condemned the attack.

"TheDanish Muslim Union strongly distances itself from the attack and anykind of extremism that leads to such acts," the group said in astatement.

Westergaard remains a potentialtarget for extremists nearly five years after he drew a caricature ofthe Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. The drawing wasprinted along with 11 others in Jyllands-Posten in 2005.

Thedrawings triggered an uproar a few months later when Danish and otherWestern embassies in several Muslim countries were torched by angryprotesters who felt the cartoons had profoundly insulted Islam.

Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Westergaard has received death threats and is the subject of an alleged assassination plot.

The case "again confirms the terror threat that is directed at Denmark and against the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard in particular," Scharf said.

In October, terror charges were brought against two Chicago men whoseinitial plan called for attacks on Jyllands-Posten's offices. The planwas later changed to just killing the paper's former cultural editorand Westergaard.

In 2008, Danish police arrested two Tunisian men suspected ofplotting to murder Westergaard. Neither suspect was prosecuted. One ofthem was deported and the other was released Monday after animmigration board rejected PET's efforts to expel him from Denmark.

Throughout the crisis, then-Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussendistanced himself from the cartoons but resisted calls to apologize forthem, citing freedom of speech and saying his government could not beheld responsible for the actions of Denmark's press.