Defiant French paper reprints Prophet cartoon

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack,which took place hours before an edition of Charlie Hebdo hit news stands featuring a cover-page cartoon of Muhammad and a speech bubble with the words: “100 lashes if you don’t die of laughter.”

The weekly,known for its irreverent treatment of the political establishment and religious figures,bore the headline “Charia Hebdo”,in a reference to Muslim sharia law,and said the issue had been guest-edited by Muhammad.

Following the fire bombing,Charlie Hebdo staff moved into the offices of Liberation. The two publications jointly produced Thursday’s supplement,which reproduced the cartoon in an article on the back page.

One headline in the supplement said: ‘After their office blaze,this team defends the freedom to poke fun’.

“We thought the lines had moved and that maybe there would be more respect for our satirical work,our right to mock. Freedom to have a good laugh is as important as freedom of speech,” Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier said in the supplement.

The supplement included several new drawings by Charlie Hebdo cartoonists. In one,a prophet-like figure tries to restrain his billowing robes in a pose reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe as a draft blows up from Charlie Hebdo newspapers below him. Another shows an airborne fire-bomb with a face in the flames and the caption,“So,is this how you see the prophet?”