From: Media Watch
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2006 10:18 AM
Subject: France Soir Editor Sacked Over Cartoons; France Soil banned in Morocco

France Soir Editor Sacked Over Cartoons

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-02/02/article01.shtml

"We express our regrets to the Muslim community and all people who were shocked by the publication" of the cartoons," Lakah said.

PARIS, February 2, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The managing editor of the daily France Soir has been sacked for republishing blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

"We express our regrets to the Muslim community and all people who were shocked by the publication" of the cartoons," Egyptian-born Raymond Lakah, the paper's owner, said in a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He decided to "remove Jacques Lefranc as managing director of the publication as a powerful sign of respect for the intimate beliefs and convictions of every individual."

The Paris daily reprinted on Wednesday, February 1, twelve controversial cartoons depicting and ridiculing Prophet Muhammad.

It claimed the move was only to illustrate the controversy sparked by their initial publication in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten paper in September.

The cartoons included portrayals of a man assumed to be the Prophet wearing a time-bomb shaped turban and showed him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by shrouded women.

The caricatures, which were later reprinted by a Norwegian magazine, triggered an outrage across the Muslim world.

Jyllands-Posten has recently said the cartoons "were not in violation of Danish law but have irrefutably offended many Muslims, and for that we apologize."

Ban

In a related development, Morocco banned all sales of France Soir on its territory.

"Wednesday's edition of France Soir was banned from the Moroccan territory because of the publication by the French newspaper of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad on the fallacious pretext of freedom of the press," the Ministry of Communications said in a statement to AFP.

It said that the ban was a reaction to "the intentionally offensive character (of the cartoons) to the Prophet and the fact that they were a blatant and gratuitous provocation for the beliefs of Muslims."

The reprinting of the insulting cartoons by France Soir, a once successful daily which is now fighting to survive, has drawn condemnation from the sizable Muslim minority in France, the largest in Europe.

Leaders of the minority, estimated at some six million, have vowed to sue the daily over the insulting drawings.

Related Links

 

Please feel free to contact News editor at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]



***************************************************************************
{Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.}
(Holy Quran-16:125)

{And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33)

The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]

The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)  also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."
[Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise.

If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".




SPONSORED LINKS
Holy quran


YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS




Reply via email to