The offices of a French satirical magazine burned early Wednesday morning, the day it was due to publish an issue with a cover appearing to make fun of Islamic law.
The cover of the magazine, Charlie Hebdo, has a bearded and turbaned cartoon figure saying "100 lashes if you're not dying of laughter."
The director of publication of the magazine said the fire was caused by a Molotov cocktail.
The executive, identified on CNN affiliate BFM-TV as "Charb," expressed outrage at the attack.
"The arsonist didn't read this magazine -- no one knows what's in this magazine except for the ones who will buy it this morning," he said.
"People acted violently over a magazine where they don't even know the content. This is what is most deviant and dumb," Charb said.
Paris police confirmed that a fire started at the Charlie Hebdo building at 1 a.m. Wednesday and was extinguished about two hours later.
They could not confirm that the fire was started by Molotov cocktails.
An investigation is underway, they said.
The magazine received threats after it announced an edition dedicated to the Arab Spring, Charb told BFM.
"I don't think Islam is a taboo subject, I think we have the right to talk about anything," he said.
The issue is renamed "Charia Hebdo," a reference to Islamic law, or sharia.
The website of the magazine has also been hacked by "Cyber-Warrior TIM" claiming to be from Akincilar, "for Islam."
The redirect page says, "You keep abusing Islam's almighty Prophet with disgusting and disgraceful cartoons using excuses of freedom of speech."
The hacking group does not claim to be responsible for the physical attacks on the building in its statement.
source : http://abna.ir
