- Get link
- Other Apps
Original Post http://www.rte.ie/
Distributors say that Charlie Hebdo will now print five million copies of its latest edition to meet demand, after the magazine sold out in many parts of France within minutes.
Distributors say that Charlie Hebdo will now print five million copies of its latest edition to meet demand, after the magazine sold out in many parts of France within minutes.
Three million copies of the French satirical magazine went on sale this morning, one week after eight of the magazine's journalists and cartoonists were shot dead in their offices in Paris.
Profits from the issue will go to victims' families.
The front cover of the magazine depicts the Prophet Muhammad holding a placard declaring "I am Charlie", under the headline "All is Forgiven".
The issue has already drawn ire from Muslim groups in some countries that oppose depictions of Islam's founder.
Staff at Charlie Hebdo began working on the new edition as early as last Friday, just two days after their colleagues had been gunned down during an editorial meeting in one of the worst terror attacks in decades.
The front cover was drawn by Renald Luzier, who was only spared because he had arrived late for work last Wednesday.
He described his depiction of Muhammad as "nicer than the terrorists' Muhammad".
The French government has supported the magazine's decision to press ahead with the publication of three million copies, many times the normal print run of just 60,000.
However, the authorities are bracing themselves for a backlash by religious fundamentalists.
In Egypt, the country's highest religious authority has already denounced the cartoon as unjustifiably provocative to the feelings of a billion and a half Muslims worldwide who love and respect the Prophet.
Turkish paper prints excerpts
Meanwhile, a leading daily in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey risked a backlash by printing excerpts from today's Charlie Hebdo edition.
The daily Cumhuriyet, which strongly opposes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, printed a four-page pull-out containing cartoons and articles translated into Turkish from the French magazine.
Many Muslims consider images of the Prophet, not least ones satirising him, to be blasphemous under Islam and Turkey's Islamic-rooted leaders in the past angrily denounced such cartoons.
Charlie Hebdo had angered Muslims in the past by printing cartoons lampooning the Prophet and Islam.
Meanwhile, French police fear there may have been several people who provided support to both Amedy Coulibaly and the Kouachi brothers, the main perpetrators of last week's attacks.
Police suspect that a jogger wounded at the outset of the attacks may have been shot by a fourth member of the cell.
Bullet casings link the weapon to the gun used by Coulibaly at the Jewish supermarket siege, but the victim told police his attacker was of European and not African origin.
French comedian Dieudonne has been arrested today for being an "apologist for terrorism" after writing a Facebook comment suggesting he sympathised with one of the gunmen, a judicial source said.
Dieudonne made his controversial Facebook post after attending Sunday's unity march against extremism that brought more than 1.5 million people onto the streets of Paris in the wake of the attacks.
Comments