Charlie Hebdo attack: Nigerian Editors stay united as two African newspapers apologize over cover

 

French cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier,now deceased was publishing director of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo before the recent terror attacks, poses for photographs at their Paris offices on Sept. 19, 2012. Charb, as he was familiarly known, was one of 12 killed in the office attack. (Jacky Naegelen/Reuters)

ALL Nigerian media organization  have stayed united as it has stayed away from the controversy generated by the publication of the satires on Prophet Mohammed via Cartoons by the Charlie Hebdo news magazine based in Paris,France.

Checks showed that the likes of Leadership and Thisday Newspapers in Lagos,Nigeria who ran the  reports on the front cover of there newspapers did not do themselves any more harm by depicting the controversial cartoons thus indicating the spiritual sensitivity of Nigerians in the wake of severe terror activities by the dreaded group of Beasts called Boko Haram in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

Two African newspapers have apologised for publishing Charlie Hebdo's cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad, after an outcry from Muslim readers.

Kenya's The Star and South Africa's The Citizen said they regretted any offence caused to Muslims.
Kenya's media regulator has summoned The Star's owner after accusing it of breaching decency. It did not single out the cartoon.
In Senegal, the government has banned Charlie Hebdo's distribution.
A second Kenyan newspaper, Business Daily, has also published the French satirical magazine's cover.
In its Thursday morning edition, the Star said many Muslim readers had complained over a "small reproduction" of Charlie Hebdo's cover on Wednesday.
Apologising, the paper, Kenya's third biggest, said it "sincerely regrets any offence and pain caused by the picture".

'Unprofessional'

The Star is an influential Kenyan daily

The government-appointed Media Council of Kenya said in a statement that it was "incensed by the persistent publishing of offensive stories and pictures by the Star newspaper".
It has summoned The Star's owners to a meeting to explain the "unprofessional" conduct of its journalists before it decides on action.
This could include the withdrawal of the accreditation of the newspaper's journalists. The Star has not commented on the council's statement.
Kenya has suffered multiple attacks from al-Shebaab militants, who called the Charlie Hebdo attacks "heroic".
South Africa's The Citizen said it apologised to all who were offended by it reprinting the cartoon.
"We deplore those killings, as we do any attempt to enforce censorship through violence," an editorial said.

'Muslim sensibilities'

In Senegal, which has a majority Muslim population, the government has banned Charlie Hebdo's distribution.
The country has close links with France, the former colonial power, and French newspapers are widely available.
The magazine's cover shows the prophet weeping while holding a sign saying "I am Charlie", and below the headline "All is forgiven".
Twelve people, including some of the magazine's best known cartoonists, were killed last week by militant Islamist gunmen who said they were avenging a 2005 depiction of Prophet Muhammad.
An interior ministry statement reported on the Senegalese news agency APS said it was banning the distribution of Charlie Hebdo by "all means".
Mr Sall showed his solidarity with French President Francois Hollande by attending Sunday's rally Senegal's bestselling newspaper, L'Observateur, described the ban on Charlie Hebdo as a "bluff" by President Macky Sall, who was widely condemned for taking part in the Paris march on Sunday. It questioned how he could have marched in Paris for press freedom, only for his government to then ban the magazine's edition depicting Prophet Muhammad.
The government has to walk a fine line between taking a stance against terrorism and not showing support for a publication seen by many Senegalese Muslims as anti-Islamic.
Although many people condemned Mr Sall for taking part in the march, prominent Muslim cleric Serigne Modou Kara defended him, saying his attendance was necessary because of the close ties between France and Senegal.
Meanwhile, a campaign group has called for a march in Dakar on 24 January under the slogan "I am African" in response to "I am Charlie", to highlight the plight of Africans who are are victims of violence, especially Nigerians under attack from militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

 Paris (AFP) - Charlie Hebdo made a defiant return on Wednesday with a new issue that sold out across France in record time, as Al-Qaeda posted a video claiming last week's deadly attack on its cartoonists.

The satirical weekly once again featured the Prophet Mohammed on its cover -- but with a tear in his eye, holding a "Je Suis Charlie" sign under the headline "All is forgiven".
After many Parisians joined long queues outside newspaper kiosks in the pre-dawn cold to get their hands a copy, French President Francois Hollande said "Charlie Hebdo is alive and will live on".
"You can murder men and women but you can never kill their ideas," he said.
Around 700,000 copies were released and sold on Wednesday as part of a print run that will eventually total five million.
Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack by Islamist gunmen on the Paris offices of the weekly last Wednesday that left 12 people dead including some of the country's best-loved cartoonists.

 Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, seen here during a video obtained in 2012, allegedly ordered the 

"(AQAP) was the party that chose the target and plotted and financed the plan... It was following orders by our general chief Ayman al-Zawahiri," said one of its leaders in the video, adding it was "vengeance" for the weekly's cartoons of the prophet.
Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi who carried out the attack are known to have trained with the group.
Amedy Coulibaly, who killed a policewoman and attacked a Jewish supermarket in Paris in attacks he said were coordinated with the Kouachi brothers, has claimed links to the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
IS on Wednesday described Charlie Hebdo's decision to print another Mohammed cartoon as "extremely stupid".
Under government orders to crackdown on hate crimes, French prosecutors have opened over 50 cases for condoning terrorism or making threats to carry out terrorist acts since the attacks that claimed 17 lives.

A sign which translates as "Charlie Hebdo - Sold Out" is displayed at a newsagents in Bord …

Some global Muslim leaders have criticised the new cartoon, with the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars saying "it is neither reasonable, nor logical, nor wise to publish drawings and films... attacking the prophet of Islam."
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein said the cover was an insult that "has hurt the feelings of nearly two billion Muslims all over the world".
The Senegalese government said it was banning the dissemination of Wednesday's editions of Charlie Hebdo and the French daily Liberation, which also put a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed on the front page.
But many have taken a nuanced stance and tried to calm tensions, with French Muslim leaders urging their communities -- which have already been targeted -- to "stay calm and avoid emotive reactions".
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Western "shortsightedness" and "support for terrorism" in the revolt against his rule were to blame for last week's attacks.

 Filipino Muslims protest against the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo's caricatures of the  …

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday the country was now engaged in a "war on terrorism", in remarks reminiscent of former US president George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
France has deployed armed police to protect synagogues and Jewish schools and called up 10,000 troops to guard against other attacks.
But Valls stressed that Muslims would always have a home in France.
"I don't want Jews in this country to be scared, or Muslims to be ashamed" of their faith, he said.
He admitted France's intelligence capabilities and anti-terrorism laws needed to be strengthened and "clear failings" addressed.

Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reported that Coulibaly bought all their weapons -- including assault rifles and a rocket launcher -- near the Gare du Midi station in Brussels for less than 5,000 euros ($7,000).
- Farewell to Cabu -
France bade farewell to one of its most beloved cartoonists on Wednesday. Cabu, 76, one of the eight journalists killed at the magazine, was buried in the Champagne region.
Charlie Hebdo's surviving staff moved into the offices of the Liberation newspaper to compile the new issue, which they admitted had been an emotional experience.
Cartoonist Renald "Luz" Luzier said he cried after drawing the front cover.
"Our Mohammed is above all just a guy who is crying. He is much nicer than the one (worshipped) by the gunmen," he said.
Distributors quickly boosted the planned print run from an initial three million to five million after the sales rush on Wednesday -- dwarfing its normal run of around 60,000 copies, and the edition will also be available in English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and Turkish.
Proceeds will go to victims' families.
Charlie Hebdo, which last month did not have enough money to pay staff wages, could raise as much as 10 million euros in sales and donations since the attack.

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet French President Francois Hollande on Friday to discuss the attacks. The United States did not send a senior official to Paris's historic march against extremism on Sunday, which the White House has admitted was a mistake.