Paris: On the day that Charlie Hebdo published its first
edition after the terror attack on its Paris office, French President Francois
Hollande said on Wednesday that the satirical weekly was 'alive and will live on'.
The 'survivors' edition, as it is being called, had
Prophet Muhammad on cover with a tear in his eye and holding 'Je suis Charlie',
which means 'I am Charlie', under the words - 'All is forgiven'.
The sign was used by people across the world in solidarity
with the weekly.
The attack on the weekly's office on January 07 killed 12
people including its editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, also known as Charb, and
other top cartoonists. "You can murder men and women but you can never
kill their ideas," Hollande said, as per AFP.
The weekly was put together by survivors of last week's
shooting who have been since Friday working out of the offices of another
French newspaper, Liberation, with equipment loaned by other media
organisations.
Cartoonist Renald 'Luz' Luzier said he cried after
drawing the front cover. Our Muhammed is above all just a guy who is crying. He
is much nicer than the one (worshipped) by the gunmen," he was quoted as
saying.
The gunmen, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, who carried
out the attack, were later killed by the French authorities after a massive
hunt.
They were killed on Friday, as was an accomplice, Amedy
Coulibaly, in separate but coordinated French commando raids on sites in and
near Paris where they had taken hostages. In all 17 people and the three
Islamist attackers were killed in three days of violence.
Meanwhile, al Qaeda today posted a video claiming last
week`s deadly attack on its cartoonists.
The responsibility was claimed by al Qaeda`s Yemen branch
(AQAP).
“AQAP was the party that chose the target and plotted and
financed the plan. It was following orders by our general chief Ayman
al-Zawahiri," said one of its leaders in the video, adding it was
"vengeance" for the weekly`s cartoons of the prophet, as per AFP.
Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi who carried out the
attack are known to have trained with the group. Amedy Coulibaly, who killed a
policewoman and attacked a Jewish supermarket in Paris in attacks he said were
coordinated with the Kouachi brothers, has claimed links to the Islamic State
group in Syria and Iraq.
Meanwhile, under government orders to crackdown on hate
crimes, French prosecutors have opened over 50 cases for condoning terrorism or
making threats to carry out terrorist acts since the attacks that claimed 17
lives.
They include one against the controversial comedian
Dieudonne Mbala Mbala. He was arrested on Wednesday and will stand trial at a
later date over a comment suggesting he sympathised with one of the Paris
attackers, as France cracks down on those who condone terrorism.
The comedian wrote "I feel like Charlie
Coulibaly" on Facebook - mixing the popular "Je Suis Charlie"
homage to the slain journalists with a reference to the supermarket gunman.
On the other hand, some global Muslim leaders have
criticised the new cartoon, with the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim
Scholars saying "it is neither reasonable, nor logical, nor wise to
publish drawings and films... attacking the prophet of Islam."
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein said the
cover was an insult that "has hurt the feelings of nearly two billion
Muslims all over the world".
But many have taken a nuanced stance and tried to calm
tensions, with French Muslim leaders urging their communities - which have
already been targeted - to "stay calm and avoid emotive reactions".
