Charlie Hebdo puts Mohammed on cover

Satirical magazine shows it hasn't lost its appetite for trouble with cartoon of Islam's holiest prophet carrying "Je Suis Charlie" sign

The frontpage of the upcoming
The frontpage of the "survivors" edition of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo Credit: Photo: Charlie Hebdo/AFP/Getty Images

The first edition of Charlie Hebdo published since nine of its contributors were murdered pulls no punches with a cover showing the Prophet Mohammed and the slogan, "Tout est pardonné, French for "All is forgiven".

Up to 3 million copies could be printed - way beyond its usual print run of 60,000 - in response to soaring demand from readers who want to show solidarity with the satirical magazine.

The cover was released on Monday evening, and shown on BBC's Newsnight, with a simple design showing Mohammed dressed in white robes on a green background and carrying a placard with the rallying cry of the magazine's supporters, "Je Suis Charlie".

The magazine's record of publishing images of Mohammed - something Muslims consider haram or sinful - is thought to be the reason it was targeted.

"We will not give in otherwise all this won't have meant anything," Richard Malka told France Info radio on Monday, which broadcast from the magazine's heavily guarded temporary offices at Lib←ration newspaper.

"Humour without self-deprecation isn't humour. We mock ourselves, politicians, religions, it's a state of mind you need to have."

While the publishers are sending a bold message that they will not be cowed by violence, they are likely to provoke further anger among Muslims.

An initial batch of 1 million copies will be available on Wednesday and Thursday, said Michel Salion, a spokesman for MPL, which distributes Charlie Hebdo. A further two million could then be printed depending on demand.

"We have requests for 300,000 copies throughout the world - and demand keeps rising by the hour," he said.

Charlie Hebdo: We will stand by our principles

"The million will go. As of Thursday, the decision will probably be taken to print extra copies ... So we'll have one million, plus two if necessary."

Seventeen people, including journalists and police, were killed in three days of violence that began on January 7 when terrorists burst into Charlie Hebdo's office during a regular editorial meeting and shot dead five of its leading cartoonists.

On Sunday, at least 3.7 million people took part throughout France in marches of support for Charlie Hebdo and freedom of expression. World leaders linked arms to lead more than a million citizens through Paris in an unprecedented demonstration to pay tribute to the victims.