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| The new chief editor of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Gerard Biard, left, and columnist Patrick Pelloux, right, comfort cartoonist Luz during a press conference in Paris, France, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015. Twelve people died when two masked gunmen assaulted the newspaper’s offices on Jan. 7, including much of the editorial staff and two police. It was the beginning of three days of terror around Paris that saw 17 people killed before the three Islamic extremist attackers were gunned down by security forces. Charlie Hebdo had faced repeated threats for depictions of the prophet, and its editor and his police bodyguard were the first to die. |
PARIS (AP) --
Charlie Hebdo released a new version of its irreverent and often
offensive newspaper Tuesday, defiantly putting a caricature of the
Prophet Muhammad on the cover that drew immediate criticism and threats
of more violence.
The newspaper also skewered
other religions, and ran a double-page spread illustrating Sunday's
march in Paris that drew more than a million people to condemn
terrorism, claiming that the turnout was larger "than for Mass."
"For
the past week, Charlie, an atheist newspaper, has achieved more
miracles than all the saints and prophets combined," it said in the lead
editorial. "The one we are most proud of is that you have in your hands
the newspaper that we always made."
Charlie
Hebdo planned an unprecedented print run of 3 million copies Wednesday -
one week to the day after the assault by two masked gunmen that killed
12 people, including much of its editorial staff and two police
officers. It was the beginning of three days of terror that saw 17
people killed before the three Islamic extremist attackers were gunned
down by security forces.
Surviving staff members are now using the offices of the Liberation newspaper, which has loaned out space.
The latest cover shows a weeping Muhammad, holding a sign reading "I am Charlie" with the words "All is forgiven" above him.
Zineb
El Rhazoui, a journalist with the weekly, said the cover meant the
journalists are forgiving the extremists for the attack.
Renald
Luzier, the cartoonist who drew the cover image under the pen name
"Luz" said it represents "just a little guy who's crying."
Then he added, unapologetically: "Yes, it is Muhammad."
Speaking
at a news conference in Paris on Tuesday at which he repeatedly broke
down crying, Luzier described weeping after he drew the picture.
Charlie
Hebdo had faced repeated threats and a firebombing for depictions of
the prophet, and its editor and his police bodyguard were the first to
die. Many Muslims believe all images of the prophet are blasphemous.
Before
the new edition was even released, one of Egypt's top Islamic
authorities had warned Charlie Hebdo against publishing more cartoons of
the Prophet Muhammad. Dar al-Ifta, which is in charge of issuing
religious edicts, called the planned cover an "unjustified provocation"
for millions of Muslims who respect and love their prophet and warned
the cartoon would likely spark a new wave of hatred.
Indeed,
criticism and threats immediately appeared on militant websites, with
calls for more strikes against the newspaper and anonymous threats from
radicals, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based
terrorism monitor.
The latest issue of Charlie
Hebdo maintained the intentionally offensive tone that made the
newspaper famous in France. The first two pages included drawings by the
slain cartoonists: One showed a much-loved late French nun talking
about oral sex; another showed Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders
dividing up the world.
The lead editorial laid
out a vigorous defense of secularism, and of the newspaper's right to
lampoon religions and hold their leaders accountable - and ended with a
critique of the pope.
But most of the controversy centered on the cover and its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.
Around
the world, news organizations took different approaches to illustrating
stories about the Charlie Hebdo cover. In the United States, CBS
programs and The New York Post ran images of the cover, while the ABC
network didn't. The New York Times also didn't publish it, but included a
link to it. CNN didn't show the cover online or on the air.
The
Associated Press had not run previous Charlie Hebdo cartoons showing
Muhammad, and declined to run the latest one as well, based on its
policy to avoid images designed to provoke on the basis of religion.
In
Europe, Spain's leading daily newspapers published the image online and
the state broadcaster showed it on news bulletins. In Britain, The
Times of London, the Guardian and the Independent went with the image,
while The Daily Telegraph didn't. The BBC showed the new cover on news
programs. Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel and Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung all used it on their websites.
