Copenhagen - One of two Tunisian nationals held on suspicion of planning to murder a Danish newspaper cartoonist has voluntarily left Denmark, his lawyer said Friday.

The two Tunisians were 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. They sparked worldwide violent protests in 2006 and Danish companies were boycotted in many Muslim countries.

The two suspects faced deportation to Tunisia as threats to state security.

Lawyer Henrik Stagetorn, who represents one of the two, said his client had "suffered" in detention and "could see no end to the matter," Danish news agency Ritzau reported.

Stagetorn declined to say where his client had flown to, adding that the appeals against the deportation would continue.

During earlier hearings, police said the men had monitored the cartoonist's home and that one of them had obtained a handgun. Both men had also watched videos about suicide bombers.

In July, an appeal court upheld a lower court ruling that the two should remain in custody pending possible deportation to Tunisia.

A special panel has yet to rule if the Supreme Court should hear the case or not. (dpa)