E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSFrench officials have ordered extra security around the country and at its embassies around the world after a satirical magazine published cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports from Paris.
France said it would temporarily close its embassies and schools in 20 countries Friday after a satirical magazine in Paris published insulting cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad, a move it fears will add “fuel to the fire” of global tensions over an anti-Islam film.
The French government, which had urged the weekly not to print the cartoons, said it was shutting embassies and schools as a precaution on Friday, when protests sometimes break out after Muslim prayers.
“We have indeed decided as a precautionary measure to close our premises, embassies, consulates, cultural centers and schools,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters. Riot police were also sent to the offices of the weekly magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby called the drawings outrageous but said those who were offended by them should "use peaceful means to express their firm rejection".
Tunisia's ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, condemned what it called an act of "aggression" against Muhammad but urged Muslims not to fall into a trap intended to "derail the Arab Spring and turn it into a conflict with the West".
In the northern Paris suburb of Sarcelles, one person was slightly hurt when two masked men threw a small explosive device through the window of a kosher supermarket. Police said it was too early to link the incident to the cartoons. One small local Muslim group filed a legal complaint against the weekly but there were no reports of reaction on the streets of France.
The acting head of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said French courts should deal with the case as firmly as it dealt with a magazine that published topless photographs of the U.K.'s Duchess of Cambridge.
The publication came amid widespread outrage over a crude, provocative film, made by anti-Islam campaigners in California, that mocked the Prophet and ignited days of deadly protests including an attack in Libya in which U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed.
The front-page cartoon had the figure in a wheelchair saying "You mustn't mock'' under the headline "Untouchable 2," a reference to a hugely popular French movie about a paralyzed rich white man and his black assistant.
US Muslims walk tightrope, denouncing both violence and anti-Islam film
Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices were fire bombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Muhammad.
Many Muslims consider any representation of Allah or Muhammad offensive.
From Northern Africa to Indonesia, protesters – sparked by outrage over an anti-Islam film produced in the U.S. – march in sometimes violent demonstrations. NBC's Jim Maceda reports and msnbc's Rula Jebreal and TIME's Bobby Ghosh offer analysis.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticized the magazine's move.
"Is it relevant and intelligent in this environment to add fuel to the fire? The answer is no,'' Fabius told France Info radio. "I'm very worried... and when I saw this I immediately issued instructions for special security precautions to be taken in all the countries where it could be a problem.''
The government has called for restraint over the cartoons, restating the principles of free speech in France and urging those shocked by the images to take action through the courts.
Clinton to hold closed briefing for lawmakers on rising anti-US violence
Muslim leaders in France, which has Europe's largest Muslim population, have appealed for calm.
Salafist Muslims in Paris have already called for a protest this Saturday at Trocadero, near the Eiffel Tower, against the California-made film.
According to reports citing local officials in Afghanistan, a female suicide bomber attacked a minibus near Kabul, killing at least nine people in what may be the deadliest act of retribution over an anti-Islam film produced in the U.S. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
However, French authorities have refused to authorize any demonstration.
A small group of about 100 were prevented by riot police from approaching the U.S. Embassy in the center of Paris last Saturday.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the authorities had rejected a request to hold a march.
"There is no reason for us to allow conflicts that do not concern France to enter our country,'' Ayrault told RTL radio.
Muslim Brotherhood: Respect beliefs of others
Muslim leaders criticized the magazine’s cartoons as another Western insult to their faith and urged France's government to take action.
"We reject and condemn the French cartoons that dishonor the Prophet and we condemn any action that defames the sacred according to people's beliefs," the acting head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Essam Erian, said, according to Reuters.
Erian added that the French judiciary should deal with the issue as firmly as it had handled the case against the magazine, Closer, which published topless pictures of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, the wife of Prince William.
"If the case of Kate (the duchess) is a matter of privacy, then the cartoons are an insult to a whole people. The beliefs of others must be respected," he told Reuters.
Erian also spoke out against any violent reaction from Muslims but said peaceful protests were justified.
Mahmoud Ghozlan, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, welcomed French government criticism of the cartoons but said that French law should deal with insults against Islam in the same way as it deals with Holocaust denial.
"If anyone doubts the Holocaust happened, they are imprisoned, yet if anyone insults the Prophet, his companions or Islam, the most (France) does is to apologize in two words. It is not fair or logical," he told Reuters.
In Lebanon, leading Salafist cleric Sheikh Nabil Rahim said the cartoons were extremely insulting and could lead to more violence.
"Of course it will anger people further. It will raise tensions that were already dangerously high," he said, according to Reuters.
He accused those involved of trying to provoke a clash of civilizations, not dialogue. "We will try to keep things managed and peaceful, but these things easily get out of hand. I fear there could more targeting of foreigners, and this is why I wish they would not persist with these provocations."
An official in Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church said the move was a deliberate provocation. It showed "some international powers" wanted violence to escalate in Egypt so that the country would not develop economically, the official, who asked not to be named, said without elaborating.
Reuters contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Democracy declined worldwide in 2011 with Arab Spring at risk, watchdog says
- 132 inmates tunnel out of Mexico prison near US border
- Fresh anti-Japan protests erupt in China
- Islamist militants attack Egypt security headquarters in Sinai
- NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin in Benghazi answers questions about attack
- In Niger, child marriage on rise due to hunger
- Pope tells Christians in Beirut: 'Be peacemakers'
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Why should the world live in such abject fear from feral beasts like the muslims?If those cretins are so sensitive about their precious mo-hamisgood-id then they should have changed their history so the world didn't know he was a meglomaniac pedophile whose sole purpose in creating his "religion"was for money power and sex.Yeah that is something to be proud of for sure.All muslims are deluded and should be treated as the virus they are.
Life is offensive...get over it...
To those of you applauding this French magazine as a hero of free speech I would urge you to go back to 5th grade and retake Civics. Your absolute misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the concept of free speech is appalling and an indictment on the failure of the American educational system. To make a movie or publish pictures with no other purpose than to humiliate, anger, offend and incite others to violence cheapens our freedom of speech and reflects our intolerance, hatred, insensitivity, arrogance and stupidity. Undoubtedly, the reaction of Islamic extremists to these images is equally a reflection of their intolerance, hatred, insensitivity, arrogance and stupidty. However, these images were published solely because the authors knew that there would be a violent reaction. That's not freedom of speech, that's a criminal act of inciting a riot.
No one can make you feel inferiour without your consent.Muslims are worse than children in their actions and reactions to anything they feel is offensive.They are animals in the truest sense.
You are wrong joemike. You don't get it as the saying goes. You're spouting liberal think.
You would have government limit what I can say or not say. I have the right to say something that just might humiliate, anger, offend, or incite you. It is then your CHOICE to be violent in response.
I have the RIGHT to lie to the police or Congress, yell "fire" in a crowded theater, or slander you. I may suffer the consequences for doing this, but the Constitutional right never goes away.
Yes, Rex - you're right - it is a choice. Unfortunately, it is usually completely uninvolved and innocent people who end up paying the price for your 'choice'.
Do you think these murderers would take the time to ask about your views on this before slaughtering you and your family if they had the chance???? Get a damned clue joemike!!!!!!
Maybe Christians, especially Catholics, should start riots over the constant bashing of the faith.
Muslims are under the illusion that they will rule the world but all they will get is a microchip ... this is what awaits you for your arrogance and haughtiness for the Lords mountain
I too am up to here with this cowering in fear about how will the Arab Street react. Personally, I don't give a rats hind end.
Freedom of Speech and Expression are rights here and if these places don't agree then they should get offline and not allow foreign films and papers into their countries. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, but when in Jersey, do whatever the hell you want to do, or something like that.
If Christians went postal every time someone gave them a black eye or produced something offensive we would be back to the witch hunts and burnings at the stake.
Enough!
I see the lame stream media is sticking by the story that it was the video that caused this violence. Obama lies again, and the media covers for him, what good lap dogs they are!!!
There is one thing about this, and regardless of free speech which I hold dearly, and gave 22 years of my life to protect, there are some instances where people need to think before acting...I realize that Islam is still in the 13th century and there is very litlle chance of changing it.
Mohammed was born as the unintended offspring of a diseased prostitute who was performing "acts of real love" with a pig for the entertainment of the Caliph. Hope that gets the attention of the muslims as to what the world thinks of their child rapist "prophet".
I wonder if that pig was the same one that the devil entered into from the Catholic bible?
Naw just the muslim one mooohamid
What I find truly amazing is that a religion, known for it's violence and far reaching vengeance, has the whole world in fear of upsetting them. This religion of peace and tolerance - this is what they call their religion - is, in effect, controlling the world through intimidation. This is like they are coming into your living room and telling you what you can't say or do because you will "OFFEND" them and they will hurt you if you do! This religion and it's practitioners need to be isolated by the world until they learn how to control themselves, respect other beliefs and that the world does not believe as they do and they can not hold the world to their religious standards.
Absolutely right izzy!!!!!
Quran
(3:151) - "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers,
for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no
authority". This speaks directly of polytheists, yet it also includes
Christians, since they believe in the Trinity
what the f u ck is wrong with u people,do u use your brain before post these comments.
I'm ready to sit back and watch the world tolerate the upcoming violence like it has done in the past.
lol, I think everyone should slam that false prophet Muhammad! lol too funny!
www.PlanetAnon.tk
Where's the cartoon? Funny fun can be made of all religions except the wacko's of Islam(e).
Quran
(4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus
be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until
they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn
renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case)
take no friends or helpers from their ranks."
Quran
(8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve.
Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them"
Quran
(8:39) - "And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder,
unbelief) and religion should be only for Allah"
Quran
(9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold
that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor
acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book,
until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."
Quran
(9:123) - "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near
to you and let them find in you hardness."
Quran
(17:16) - "And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to
the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word
proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction."
Quran
(47:3-4) - "Those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those who
believe follow the truth from their lord. Thus does Allah set forth form men
their lessons by similitude. Therefore when you meet in battle those who
disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make
(them) prisoners,"
.....there are hundreds of these, and this is what they preach in the quran, do not be fooled, Islam is militant. At war with Hindi's in India vs Pakistan, setting off those poisoins in the subways, blowing up crap in Spain and the U.K. and not to mention the World Trade towers. What, you think someone will actually be talk them into NOT listening to what their faith commands them to do one day? It's in their book...look it up.
Islam IS militant.
The "prophet" Mohammad is a joke, and so is the rest of the "teachings".
The so called "good Muslims" sit back and FUND and let the rest do the dirty work.
When the day is done, they hope to step out into a new Muslim world.
America, will not let that happen.
All over cartoons and a cartoonish film.
And what IDIOT said that the "prohet" Mohammad could not be "depicted"?
Are you ashamed of your idol?
French political leaders unlike American will have no reservations about the use of deadly force in protecting their citizens from these so called Religious factions. They are closing schools and embassies as a precautionary measure only not to protect the Muslims but to protect the French people. Their we don't want your bullsh*t here in France seems to be an approach that works. Maybe our leaders could get aclue and start acting accordingly.
Because France protects their citizens so much more than America. If it wasn't in large part for America there would be no France. Besides it so much easier to protect your government offices after you already know what has happened to others. If we could read tomorrows newspapers today imagine all the people we could save.
Do you NOT realize that America was warned about violence headed our way and that our government did nothing????? Oh that's right Obama, Clinton and that Ambassador say it was a spontaneous reaction to the video and you buy that hook, line and sinker!!!!!!! What's happening right now is just a small part of bigger things to come and if America doesn't wake up and take some action there will literally be hell to pay.
They burn our flag so I think I will piss on and burn their koran. But this will add fuel to the fire. WGAS.
Yeah, where is the cartoon? Why are you teasing us with this article, but are afraid to show the cartoon? Isn't that a bit cowardly?
I guess it could be bigotry? In one of the cartoons, Muhammad is shown on all fours, showing his butthole, which is a big no-no in the US, right?
great peaceful religion ! kill anyone and anything that makes a statement about it that you dont agree withor dislike, if all religion was like this, there would be no one left in this world ! not even muslims, its faith and not brainwashing you F>>>> A o's
2012, anti-christ, talk of wars, natural disasters etc. Hmmm, don't think I'll buy Christmas presents. More people have been killed in the name of religion than all other causes combined. We want to bring democracy to these people. With such secular governments there cannot be democracy as we know it. No freedom of speech. Other countries wil discover this as they have to close their facilities over there. It is worse than the iron curtain at least they were in the twentieth century not back in biblical time or dark ages.
"Those who are feared, are hated."
--Benjamin Franklin
Islam is as much a political movement as it is a religion. In its most conservative form (may I say radical form?) it teaches Muslims to hate and conquer, and to let nothing get in the way of its vocally stated goals, which is to extend a Caliphate to rule much of the World under Sharia Law. Or stated more clearly, their goal is to require the rest of us (Infidels) to submit, or die.
Until Islam is ready to compromize, moderate, cooperate, modernize, etc., it will remain unique amongst the big religions. Most Muslims cannot fully assimilate into modern society if they continue to hear and conform with Islamic teachings. If you open your eyes and observe Islam (outside the drivel provided the masses via the main stream media), I believe most reasonable people will better understand the dangers our children and grandchildren will face.
Isn't this like a teenager, who dislikes, dispises his / her parents, thinking they don't knwo anything, thinking they are behind the times, thinking they are old and closed minded, AND goes out in the world and finds not everyone is honest, a good person, is trusting and safe. The Islamic countries are NOW part of the world. Their closed, mideviel socities are opening up to the rest of the world, Internet, IPhones, Satellites, More Freedom. Guess what? NOT eveyone in the world is nice. NOT everyone in the world thinks and acts like you. Shocked? Offended? Angry? Betrayed? Grow up. Are these anti Mohammed pictures, movies, cartoons offensive? Yes. A slap in the face to you religion, your culture, your family? Yes. Throw a fit every time? Grow up. You look like spoiled, wet behind the ears, teenagers. Get used to it and learn a little bit of maturity. You have the same rights: Say what you want. Fight back. But burn and destroy and hate everytime you see or hear something you don't like. Time to grow up: Islam. The world is a bigger place than what you are used to.
Personally, I have seen some bad teens, but none that wanted to overthrow the world and force an Islamic Muslim faith on people.
I was just trying to figure out how to explain what is going on with these people and their countries and cultures. There is WAY TOO MUCH hate and anger for a stupid cartoon. They have been suppressed and downtrodden by their political, military, and relgious leaders way too long. They do NOT know how to handle any type of freedom. It's all hate and rage. They are so used to falling in line, the ONLY rage is the ACCEPTABLE RAGE, the rage that is OK with the Imams and the accepted version of history: it's all Isreal's and the US's and the west's fault. They show total disrespect for acceptable behavior. Way too much hate and anger. ALL directed at the Isreal and the west. No one condones this. They are way out of line and dangerous. i would get the hell out of all these countries. Take our money, our troops, our ideals and values and say,,,see you later when you grow up.