Copenhagen  - A Tunisian national held on suspicion of planning to murder a Danish newspaper cartoonist will not be deported. However, his movements will be restricted, news reports said Tuesday.

The Danish Refugee Appeals Board ruled that the man risked possible mistreatment or other degrading punishment if sent back to Tunisia.

The man was one of two Tunisians arrested in February after the Danish security and intelligence service PET said it had uncovered a plot to murder cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.

Westergaard's controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban was one of 12 images published in September 2005 by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. The cartoons sparked worldwide violent protests in 2006. Many Danish companies were also boycotted in Muslim countries.

The 37-year-old must report regularly to the police and will not be allowed to have a job, according to the appeals board decision.

In August, the other Tunisian national arrested in the case voluntarily left Denmark.

Westergaard told TV2 News that he was confident that protection he is receiving from the security police is adequate. (dpa)