France warns citizens to be cautious

Anger seethes in Muslim world over cartoons

PARIS/ MOSCOW • France warned its citizens in several Muslim-majority countries to take extra security precautions on Tuesday as anger surged over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, and the head of Russia's Chechnya region said Paris was pushing people toward terrorism.

In Bangladesh, thousands of protesters marched through the capital, with some stamping on a poster of French President Emmanuel Macron, and Iran summoned the French charge d’affaires to register a protest over the cartoons.

But in a sign that some countries want to limit the fallout, Saudi Arabia — while condemning the cartoons — held back from echoing calls in other parts of the Muslim world for a boycott of French products.

The row has its roots in a knife attack outside a French school on Oct. 16 in which a man of Chechen origin beheaded Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown pupils cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in a civics lesson. The caricatures are considered blasphemous by Muslims.

The French government, backed by many citizens, saw the beheading as an attack on freedom of speech, and said they would defend the right to display the cartoons.

Macron called the teacher a hero, and he pledged to fight “Islamist separatism,” saying it was threatening to take over some Muslim communities in France.

France’s foreign ministry on Tuesday issued safety advice to French citizens in Indonesia, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Mauritania, advising them to exercise caution. They should stay away from any protests over the cartoons and avoid any public gatherings.

The images of the Prophet were first published years ago by a French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, whose editorial offices were attacked in 2015 by gunmen who killed 12 people.

Since Paty’s killing, French people protesting in solidarity have displayed the cartoons in the street, and they were projected on to a building in one city. French officials have closed a Paris mosque they said was fanning anger over the cartoons.

On Tuesday, security alerts forced the closure of the areas around the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower in central Paris, police told Reuters.

The Arc de Triomphe area and surrounding subway stations had been evacuated following a bomb alert, but traffic later returned to normal, police and witnesses said.

The Paris Champ de Mars park around the Eiffel Tower had also been evacuated briefly following the discovery of a bag filled with ammunition.