Pakistani Muslims want Cartoonist Renald Luzier hanged
As worldwide protests continued for a second day, nearly 300 people from a religious group rallied in the eastern city of Lahore, carrying placards saying ‘Down with Charlie Hebdo’.
One banner read: ‘Making blasphemy cartoon of the Prophet is the worst act of terrorism. The sketch-makers must be hanged immediately.’
Cartoonist Renald Luzier, who drew the image, had argued earlier this week that there should be no exceptions to freedom of expression.
The rally came as Pakistani lawmakers staged their own demonstrations outside parliament after passing a resolution condemning the image of Islam’s prophet in the French satirical newspaper.
The front cover shows a weeping Mohammed, holding a sign reading ‘I am Charlie’ with the words ‘All is forgiven’ above him.
Demanding death sentence: Pakistani Muslims chant slogans against the publication of an image of the Prophet Mohammed in Charlie Hebdo, calling for those behind the cartoons to be hanged
Outrage: The 300-strong group carried placards saying ‘Down with Charlie Hebdo’ during the rally in Lahore
Burning issue: Pakistani protesters burn a French flag during a protest against the printing of satirical Charlie Hebdo sketches of the Prophet Mohammed in Multan
Like many other Muslim nations, Pakistan has condemned last week’s deadly rampage at the office of Charlie Hebdo which killed 12 people, including editors, cartoonists and two policemen.
But the authorities have also condemned the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, which many Muslims consider sacrilege.
Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Mohammad Yousuf said the lawmakers unanimously adopted the resolution condemning the publication of the images.
The resolution was mostly symbolic.
Yousif did not say how many legislators were present, but he stressed that lawmakers from all political parties backed the measure.
The resolution also condemned violence under any pretext.
After the vote, a group of lawmakers marched outside parliament, chanting: ‘In the name of the prophet, we’re ready to die.’
The minister said the resolution would be sent to all foreign missions in the country and to the United Nations, to register Pakistan’s protest against the cartoons, which ‘hurt our religious sentiments deeply.’
Pakistani Muslims demand death sentence for drawing Mohamed
Pakistan’s State Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Yousaf (centre) leads a protest against satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo after passing a resolution condemning the publication of the Mohammed cartoon
Islam generally forbids depictions of the Prophet Mohammed and many in Muslim-majority Pakistan view the cartoons as blasphemous.
The magazine has invoked freedom of speech to defend its publications of cartoons that many Muslims and non-Muslims alike consider offensive.
Meanwhile, Turkey also denounced the prophet cartoons as an ‘open provocation’.
‘Freedom of the press does not mean freedom to insult,’ Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara before heading for talks with EU leaders in Brussels.
His comments came as prosecutors in Istanbul opened an investigation into Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing excerpts from the first issue of Charlie Hebdo since the attack on its offices on January 7 that left 12 people dead.
The publications revived a controversy over freedom of speech in officially secular Turkey which has been run for over a decade by an Islamic-leaning government and pious Muslim Recep Tayyip Erdogan, first as premier and now president.
‘We do not allow any insult to the prophet in this country,’ Davutoglu said.
‘As the government, we cannot put side by side the freedom of press and the lowness to insult.’
Vocal: Turkish Muslims chant slogans in front of the Istanbul courthouse during a protest against the publication by Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing extracts of Charlie Hebdo
Up in arms: Istanbul has opened an investigation into Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing excerpts from the first issue of Charlie Hebdo since the attack on its offices on January 7 that left 12 people dead
Demonstration: A Muslim protestor holds a Turkish and an Islamic flag in front of Istanbul courthouse during a protest against the publication by Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet
Davutoglu said people were sensitive about their religion in the overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey and could not be expected to show patience towards insults to the prophet.
‘If some print cartoons that insult the prophet – and this is the situation and there is a sensitivity in Turkey – it is a provocation… it is an open provocation.’
Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II has characterised the cartoon as ‘irresponsible and reckless’.
A statement from Jordan’s royal palace said ‘continuation of publishing the cartoon is an insult to the feelings of Muslims everywhere’.
The king, believed to be a descendant of Mohammed, added that, at times like these, there is a ‘need for wisdom, dialogue and open-endedness… and of working in a constructive manner to boost the values of respect, compassion and common values.’
On Tuesday in the northwestern city of Peshawar, a hard-line cleric led a memorial service for the brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi who attacked the satirical paper and praised their assault.
About 40 people attended, with some carrying banners condemning the magazine and chanting praise for the Kouachis.
The magazine yesterday published a ‘survivors’ issue which sold out before more copies of an eventual print run of five million hit newsstands.
Copies have since been changing hands on eBay for three-figure sums as customers rush to get their hands on the edition.
But many Muslims believe their faith forbids depictions of the prophet and reacted with dismay – and occasionally anger – to the latest cover image.
Some felt their expressions of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo after last week’s attack had been rebuffed, while others feared the cartoon would trigger yet more violence.
‘You’re putting the lives of others at risk when you’re taunting bloodthirsty and mad terrorists,’ said Hamad Alfarhan, a 29-year old Kuwaiti doctor.
Filipino Muslims set fire to a banner with a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest at what they described as ‘double standard’ practices of the Western media against Muslims in the wake of global call for condemnation following the terrorist attack at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu became a central figure in the response to the Paris terror attacks after four Jewish shoppers were killed by one of the Islamic fanatics. Here, a tarpaulin with his image and the Israeli flag is torched by Filipinos over the decision to publish a cartoon of Mohammed on Charlie Hebdo
In the Philippines, there were angry protests yesterday at the front cover and also the perceived double standards by the West.
Placards by demonstrators in Marawi were held aloft which accused the West of remaining silent over the deaths of Muslims and that said ‘You are Charlie, I love Mohammed’.
In one rally a picture of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was set on fire and banners waved that declared there would be no apology from the Islamic world for the Paris massacre.
Mr Netanyahu became a central figure in the response to the attacks after four Jewish shoppers were killed by one of the Islamic fanatics at a kosher deli the day after the Charlie Hebdo shootings.
It came as Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram hailed the Paris massacres.
‘We are indeed happy with what happened in France,’ the group’s leader Abubakar Shekau said in a video posted online.
‘We are happy over what befell the people of France… as their blood was shed inside their country as they (try to) safeguard their blood,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Abbas Shumann, deputy to the Grand Sheik of Cairo’s influential Al-Azhar mosque, said the new image was ‘a blatant challenge to the feelings of Muslims who had sympathised with this newspaper.’
Protesters burn newspaper that publishes Charlie Hebdo cartoons
Outrage: Many Muslims believe their faith forbids depictions of the prophet and reacted with dismay – and occasionally anger – to the latest cover image including at this demonstration in Marawi in the Philippines
Up in arms: The protesters denounced Charlie Hebdo for featuring Prophet Mohammed in their latest edition
But he said Muslims should ignore the cover and respond by ‘showing tolerance, forgiveness and shedding light on the story of the prophet.’
An angry reaction, he said, will ‘not solve the problem but will instead add to the tension and the offense to Islam.’
In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood said it would stage a protest after Friday prayers in Amman in response to the paper’s Mohammed cartoon.
Spokesman Murad Adaileh said the brotherhood strongly condemned both the killings and the ‘offensive’ against the prophet.
That was a widely expressed sentiment.
Ghassan Nhouli, a grocer in the Lebanese port city of Sidon, said the magazine and the killers ‘are both wrong.’
‘It is not permitted to kill and also it is not permitted to humiliate a billion Muslims,’ he said.
Protest: Demonstrators in Istanbul shouted slogans denouncing a Turkish daily newspaper which printed four-page spread of Charlie Hebdo cartoons
Furious: One protester burned a copy of the Cumhuriyet, the daily Turkish newspaper which decided to print Charlie Hebdo illustrations
Precaution: Turkish riot police blocked a street in Istanbul to contain the angry Muslim demonstrators
Crackdown: Police arrest demonstrators, including one who burned a copy of the Cumhuriyet newspaper
Standing guard: Earlier in the day, heavily armed policemen kept a watchful eye on the pro-secular Turkish newspaper’s offices
The Iranian government has strongly condemned the killings, but Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said that in a world of widely differing cultures, ‘sanctities need to be respected.’
He said: ‘I think we would have a much safer, much more prudent world if we were to engage in serious dialogue, serious debate about our differences and then what we will find out that what binds us together is far greater than what divides us.’
Egyptian cartoonist Makhlouf appealed for peace with his own spin on the Charlie Hebdo cover, replacing Mohammed with an ordinary Middle Eastern man carrying a placard reading ‘I am an artist’ in French.
‘I am for art and against killing,’ he added in Arabic. ‘May God forgive everyone.’
The image was widely circulated on social media. Turkey was rare among Muslim-majority nations to have publications running Charlie Hebdo images. But the decision has raised tensions in the officially secular country.
Police stopped trucks leaving the printing plant of newspaper Cumhuriyet after it said it would reprint some of the cartoons.
The vehicles were allowed to distribute the paper once officials had determined that the image of the Prophet Mohammed was not shown.
Parisians queue at dawn for latest edition of Charlie Hebdo
This Parisian newsagent had a sign up apologising for running out of the survivors’ edition
The paper printed a four-page selection of cartoons and articles – including caricatures of Pope Francis and French President Francois Hollande – but left out cartoons likely to offend Muslims.
However, two Cumhuriyet columnists used small, black-and-white images of the new Charlie Hebdo cover as their column headers.
A small group of pro-Islamic students staged a protest outside the paper’s office in Ankara, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The police intensified security outside Cumhuriyet’s headquarters and printing center as a precaution.
Meanwhile, Al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by the jihadist network’s global chief to avenge the French magazine’s cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
In a video entitled ‘A message regarding the blessed battle of Paris’, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said that it had financed and plotted the assault on the weekly that left 12 people dead and shocked France.
Purported Boko Haram leader applauds Charlie Hebdo attacks
‘We are indeed happy with what happened in France': Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Nigerian terror group hails the massacres in Paris
But it said the orders had come from the very top of the global jihadist network – Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who succeeded Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden after his death in 2011.
‘We, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, claim responsibility for this operation as vengeance for the messenger of Allah,’ Nasser al-Ansi, one of AQAP’s chiefs, said in the video.
Leading Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, formerly a member of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), praised the ‘heroic and rare attack’ in France, hailing the Kouachi brothers as ‘two soldiers of Islam… who humiliated France.’
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