A French magazine’s decision to publish cartoons depicting a naked Prophet Mohammad triggered a new wave of fears at embassies in Europe, even as anger at the west continued to sweep through the Muslim world.
France announced Wednesday it will close 20 embassies in Arab and Muslim nations after the weekly Charlie Hebdo published the controversial cartoons. The images threaten to further inflame Muslim protesters and terror groups, who have demonstrated against the U.S. at embassies around the world since an anti-Islam film went viral last week.
The French Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning Wednesday urging French citizens in the Muslim world to exercise “the greatest vigilance,” avoiding public gatherings and “sensitive buildings” such as those representing the West or religious sites. At the same time, the country — which has western Europe’s largest Muslim population — plunged into new debate over the limits to free speech in a modern democracy.
France’s prime minister said freedom of expression is guaranteed, but cautioned that it “should be exercised with responsibility and respect.”
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that Charlie Hebdo could be throwing “oil on the fire,” but said it’s up to courts to decide whether the magazine went too far.
The cartoons could extend a wave of violence linked to a trailer for an amateurish film called the “Innocence of Muslims,” which portrays the prophet as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester, has killed at least 30 people in seven countries.
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