The Swedish artist who was the target of an alleged assassination plot said Thursday he was not afraid and expressed no regrets over his cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog.

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The publication of Lars Vilks' satirical cartoon by a Swedish regional newspaper in August 2007 to illustrate an editorial on the importance of freedom of expression sparked controversy.

"I have no regrets at all about this," Vilks told AFP. "There are very strong reasons to do that again."

"I think it's very important that if you want to discuss what freedom of speech is, what the relations are between freedom of speech and Islam and Muslims, you have to make a real standpoint, you have to have something provoking and aggressive enough to start a debate."

Leading Swedish newspapers on Wednesday republished the cartoon as a gesture in defense of freedom of speech.

Vilks, who has a 100,000-dollar (74,000-euro) bounty on his head from an Al-Qaeda-linked group, said he does not fear for his safety. "No. I've been in the game for a long time."