New Prophet cartoon published
2006-02-08 17:53
Paris - A French satirical weekly reprinted
controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday and
published one of its own on its front page, further angering
Muslim groups which say the caricatures are blasphemous.
French Muslim organisations tried to prevent Charlie Hebdo
reprinting the 12 cartoons, which were first published by the
Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, but a court rejected their suit on
Tuesday on a technicality.
President Jacques Chirac condemned "overt provocations"
which could enflame passions, but did not name Charlie Hebdo in
his latest appeal for restraint in a dispute that has triggered
violent protests across the Muslim world.
Charlie Hebdo carried the new cartoon on its front page,
depicting the Prophet Muhammad burying his face in his hands and
saying: "It's hard to be loved by fools."
Sales of the weekly were brisk in Paris. Inside pages showed
the 12 cartoons that were first printed in Denmark and included
an editorial explaining the decision to reprint them.
"It is unacceptable that religious groups are setting down
the rules for the rights of the press and freedom of expression.
"It is not up to religious groups to decide what to publish or
not - we would be back in 1938 if we accepted this," Charlie
Hebdo editor Philippe Val told Reuters.
"We are not the ones lighting the fire with these cartoons.
"The fire was lit on September 11 (2001) and by people who are using
religion abusively to commit mass crimes as in London or in
Madrid," he said referring to bombings in the two capitals.
As well as publishing the Danish cartoons, Charlie Hebdo
printed other cartoons on its back page which caricatured other
religions, including Christianity and Judaism.
Sources at Charlie Hebdo said some staff had been placed
under police protection and journalists at the paper said it had
received three or four threatening phone calls this morning.
Charlie Hebdo, which normally prints around 100 000 copies,
had printed 320 000 copies of this edition and might now produce
up to a total of 500 000 copies, journalists at the paper said.
France's 5-million-strong Muslim community is the largest in
Europe and makes up about 8% of the French population,
making the furore a sensitive domestic political issue.