France: This week’s edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo will show a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad holding a “Je suis Charlie” sign. Above the cartoon are the words “All is forgiven”. This comes after Islamist gunmen last week raided the magazine’s Paris office, killing 12 people.
French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo defied the attackers in last week’s bloodbath by putting a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammed on its next cover, as the government on Monday announced the deployment of 10,000 soldiers to boost security.
The weekly released the front page of what it called the “survivors’ issue”, due out Wednesday, featuring a crying Muhammed in a white turban and holding a sign that reads “Je suis Charlie” under the words: “All is forgiven”. The newspaper Liberation hosted Charlie Hebdo staff as they prepared the new issue and is handling its special 1 million-copy print run in numerous languages.
Liberation published the Charlie Hebdo cover online late on Monday night, showing a man in a white turban it says represents the Prophet. He is holding a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie“) and with a title reading “Tout est Pardonne” (“All is Forgiven“), which French media interpreted as meaning Mohammed is forgiving the cartoonists for lampooning him.
Earlier on Monday, Charlie Hebdo lawyer Richard Malka said a French radio that the new issue would “obviously” feature cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, with roughly 4.7 million followers of the faith. Amid growing tensions between Muslims and other French residents, France banned the wearing of Islamic veils and other face coverings in 2011.
Bureau Report
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