London, Sep 19 (ANI): A satirical French magazine, which is planning to publish cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed in its latest edition, has reportedly sparked fears that a wave of anger in the Islamic world could spread to France.
‘Charlie Hebdo’, which is due to hit the stands on Wednesday, comes against a background of protests across the Islamic world over a crude US-made film that mocks Prophet Mohammed and portrays Muslims as gratuitously violent.
The magazine confirmed that its latest edition contains several cartoons featuring Mohammed that the publication’s editor said would “shock those who will want to be shocked,” The Telegraph reports.
Charlie Hebdo’s latest move was reportedly greeted with immediate calls from political and religious leaders for the media to act responsibly and avoid inflaming the current situation.
French Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, issued a statement expressing his “disapproval of all excesses,” the paper said.
However, the magazine’s editor, originally a cartoonist who uses the name Charb, denied he was being deliberately provocative at a delicate time.
“The freedom of the press, is that a provocation? I’m not asking strict Muslims to read Charlie Hebdo, just like I wouldn’t go to a mosque to listen to speeches that go against everything I believe,” he said. (ANI)
France tightens security at embassies over Mohammed cartoons
Paris stepped up security at its embassies on Wednesday in states where it expects hostile reactions to a French magazine’s publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. “I have obviously issued instructions so that special security measures are taken in all the countries where this could pose a problem,” AFP quoted Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as saying. The minister said he was concerned by the potential for a backlash to satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo’s publication of the cartoons.
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