Cartoons of Prophet Muhammed published in France

 French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, a decision criticized by the French authorities who sent riot police to protect the magazine’s offices. The magazine’s front cover showed an Orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned figure in a wheelchair and several caricatures of the Prophet were included on its inside pages, including some of him naked. The publication comes in the midst of widespread outrage over an anti-Muslim film posted on the Internet, APA reports quoting RTÉ news.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticized Charlie Hebdo’s decision as a provocation and said he had bolstered security at French diplomatic offices in the Muslim world.

Charlie Hebdo’s Paris offices were fire bombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Muhammad.

In 2005, Danish cartoons of the Prophet sparked a wave of violent protests across the Muslim world that killed at least 50 people.