World

Charlie Hebdo to feature Prophet Muhammad

14:25 pm on 13 January 2015

The cover of the next edition of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will show a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad bearing a sign saying "Je suis Charlie".

Reporter Laurent leger (back-R), cartoonist Catherine Meurisse (back, 2L) and cartoonist Corinne Rey aka Coco (front-R) arrive to attend an editorial meeting between Charlie Hebdo and Liberation on 9 January. Photo: AFP

The slogan has been used to express support for the magazine and the journalists killed in its office by gunmen last week.

Charlie Hebdo editor-in-chief Gerard Briard (R) and lawyer Richard Malka (L) Photo: AFP

The editor and some of France's most celebrated cartoonists were among the 12 people killed.

Three million copies of the next edition, which is being put together by survivors of the attack, will be published. The usual print run is 60,000.

The magazine's lawyer Richard Malka told French radio earlier that it was important to show that staff would "cede nothing" to extremists, the BBC reported.

Following the attack on Wednesday, the gunmen were heard shouting that they had "avenged the Prophet Muhammad".

The magazine was firebombed in 2011 after publishing Muhammad cartoons.

A total of 17 people were killed in three days of terror attacks in Paris last week.

People hold a placard reading "I am Muslim, I am Jewish, I am Catholic, I am Charlie" during a Paris rally. Photo: AFP

'Right to blaspheme'

The slogan "Je suis Charlie" or "I am Charlie" was widely used following Wednesday's attack on the magazine, as people sought to show their support.

Mr Malka told France Info radio: "We will not give in. The spirit of 'I am Charlie' means the right to blaspheme."

Survivors of the massacre have been working on the magazine from the offices of another French title, Liberation.

Five of Charlie Hebdo's top cartoonists were killed in the attack.

The new edition will be created "only by people from Charlie Hebdo", its financial director, Eric Portheault, told AFP.

Contributions from other cartoonists were declined.

A man holds a sign reading "We are all Charlie" at a rally in the city of Lille, northern France. Photo: AFP

New Zealand cartoonist Rufus Dayglo attends a silent vigil in Trafalgar Square, London. Photo: AFP

French police officers and forensic experts examine the car used by the armed gunmen who stormed Charlie Hebdo. Photo: AFP