Paris: A firebomb attack gutted the headquarters of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday after it put an image of the Prophet Mohammad on its cover. This week’s edition shows a cartoon of Mohammad and a speech bubble with the words: “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter”. It has the headline “Charia Hebdo”, in a reference to Muslim sharia law, and says Mohammad guest-edited the issue.
Charlie Hebdo’s website on Wednesday appeared to have been hacked and showed images of a mosque with the message “no God but Allah”. Many Muslims object to any representation of Allah or Mohammad, or to irreverent treatment of the Quran, and such incidents have inflamed protests in the past, sometimes violent.
Danish cartoons of Mohammad in 2005 sparked unrest in the Muslim world in which at least 50 people were killed. A US pastor’s burning of a copy of the Quran led to protests in Afghanistan in April in which several died.
Police said nobody was injured in the fire. Windows were broken on the ground floor and first floor and fire damage was visible inside. “The building is still standing. The problem is there’s nothing left inside,” Stephane Charbonnier, editor of Charlie Hebdo said.
The main representative body of Muslims in France, the French Muslim Council (CFCM), denounced the attack while also faulting the publication. “The CFCM deplores the mocking tone of the newspaper towards Islam, but reaffirms with force its total opposition to any act of violence,” it said. REUTERS
Charlie Hebdo’s website on Wednesday appeared to have been hacked and showed images of a mosque with the message “no God but Allah”. Many Muslims object to any representation of Allah or Mohammad, or to irreverent treatment of the Quran, and such incidents have inflamed protests in the past, sometimes violent.
Danish cartoons of Mohammad in 2005 sparked unrest in the Muslim world in which at least 50 people were killed. A US pastor’s burning of a copy of the Quran led to protests in Afghanistan in April in which several died.
Police said nobody was injured in the fire. Windows were broken on the ground floor and first floor and fire damage was visible inside. “The building is still standing. The problem is there’s nothing left inside,” Stephane Charbonnier, editor of Charlie Hebdo said.
The main representative body of Muslims in France, the French Muslim Council (CFCM), denounced the attack while also faulting the publication. “The CFCM deplores the mocking tone of the newspaper towards Islam, but reaffirms with force its total opposition to any act of violence,” it said. REUTERS
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