DHAKA: French satirical newspaper ‘Charlie Hebdo’ drew ire with the cover of its latest issue, re-enflaming a debate that pits free speech against religious sensitivities that has embroiled Europe since 12 people were killed during an attack on its Paris office one week ago.

The new issue that went on sale on Wednesday features a cover cartoon of Prophet Mohammad weeping and holding a ‘Je Suis Charlie’ (I am Charlie) sign under the headline ‘All is forgiven’. It was the first issue to be published after the attack.

While surviving staff members described their choice of cover as a show of forgiveness, most Muslims consider any depiction of their prophet to be blasphemous, New York Times (NYT) reported, says The Straits Times.

Moreover, interpretations quickly swirled around the internet that the cartoon also contained disguised crudity, said the newspaper.

One of Egypt’s highest Islamic authorities has warned that the cartoon would exacerbate tensions. The state-sponsored Dar al-Ifta said the cover was ‘an unjustified provocation against the feelings of 1.5 billion Muslims’.

It said the cover image ‘will give an opportunity for extremists from both sides to exchange violent acts that only the innocent will pay for’.

Death threats are also circulating online against the surviving staff members of ‘Charlie Hebdo’, NYT said.

Moreover, Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s most prestigious centre of learning, warned that new cartoons would only serve to ‘stir up hatred’. The drawings ‘do not serve the peaceful coexistence between peoples and hinders the integration of Muslims into European and Western societies’, the Cairo-based body’s Islamic research centre said in a statement.

BDST: 1546 HRS, JAN 14, 2015