Magazine offices bombed after printing Muhammad cartoon
The offices of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine in Paris, have been destroyed in a petrol-bomb attack hours before the special Arab spring edition was due to hit newsstands.
The edition, entitled “Sharia Hebdo”, featured a cartoon on the front cover portraying Muhammad as a “guest editor”.
The magazine said that Wednesday’s edition was intended to “celebrate” the victory of an Islamist party in last month’s Tunisian elections. Several threats on Twitter and Facebook had been received prior to the attack.
The French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, condemned the attack on the newspaper.
“Freedom of expression is an inalienable right in our democracy and all attacks on the freedom of the press must be condemned with the greatest firmness. No cause can justify such an act of violence,” he said in a statement.
The head of the French Council for the Muslim Faith, Mohammed Moussaoui, also condemned the attack.
In response to the news, Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said:
“This violence is unacceptable. Violence now appears to be the routine response from parts of the Islamic world when they encounter disagreement.
“Politicians, journalists and cartoonists have all faced challenges to their freedom to speak in the last few years. There have been many such incidents, and taken together they paint a picture of a chilling threat to freedom of speech in Europe.
“Freedom of speech must be robustly defended, both for the sake of future generations and also to preserve the right to preach the Gospel.”