NIAMEY (Reuters) – Demonstrators in Niger attacked the French cultural centre, set fire to churches and raided Christian shops on Friday, as protests erupted against Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons in several Muslim West African countries.
Staff of the satirical French weekly, which had angered Muslims by publishing images of the Prophet Mohammad, were shot dead by Islamist gunmen in Paris last week.
Police in Niger’s southern city of Zinder, the second largest in Niger, fired tear gas at a crowd of hundreds of people who burned French flags and tires in the streets on Friday.
“The protesters are crying out in local Hausa language: Charlie is Satan – let hell engulf those supporting Charlie,” said Aboubacar Mamane, a shopkeeper, by telephone.