Copenhagen - Wednesday welcomed reports that his cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed has been removed from a controversial anti-Islam film made by a Dutch opposition legislator.

"I am very happy that (Geert) Wilders has removed my drawing. I am aware that the cartoon has almost become an icon and lives its own life but I try to uphold my copyright as far as possible," Westergaard told public broadcaster DR news of the cartoon depicting the prophet with a bomb in his turban.

Westergaard said he had not seen Wilders' movie Fitna that has been published on the internet, but defended the Dutch politician's right to freedom of expression.

Fitna is a 16-minute political film about radical Islam which warns of the alleged "Islamization" of the Netherlands and possible negative consequences for Dutch liberal and democratic values.

The cartoonist recently sought help from the Danish Union of Journalists and its Dutch counterpart to persuade Wilders to remove the cartoon from the film.

The cartoon was one of 12 published in newspapers that sparked violent protests in 2006 by Muslims worldwide and triggered a boycott of Danish goods.

Leading Danish newspapers reprinted the cartoons in February after Danish security police said they had averted an alleged plot to murder Westergaard.

Last month, Westergaard went to court to stop a Danish anti-Islam group from using his cartoon in connection with a protest in the city of Aalborg.