Sarkozy Backs Cartoons, Irks Muslims

"I prefer an excess of cartoons than the absence of cartoons," Sarkozy wrote in a letter read at the a court hearing against the publication of the lampooning caricatures by the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Describing himself as a "favorite target" of the weekly, Sarkozy, the religious affairs minister and front-runner in the April's presidential elections, said he accepted that "in the name of freedom, you can laugh at everything."

The Paris Grand Mosque and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France are suing Charlie Hebdo for reprinting cartoons commissioned and published by Denmark's Jyllands-Posten daily.

One showed a man described as Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb, and a second showing him standing on a cloud, turning away suicide bombers from paradise with the caption "Stop, stop, we ran out of virgins."

The cartoons, considered blasphemous under Islam, were later reprinted by European newspapers on claims of freedom of expression, straining Muslim-West ties and triggering massive and sometimes violent demonstrations across the Muslim world.

Charlie Hebdoeditor Philippe Val told the Paris criminal court that the decision to publish the Danish cartoons and a separate drawing by French cartoonist Cabu was intended to "criticize religion as an ideology".

"What is there left to do if you can't laugh at terrorists? If we can't laugh at them, we are done for," he asked.

Resignation

The message from Sarkozy at the opening of the case brought a swift reaction from the umbrella French Council for the Muslim Religion (CFCM).

Furious at what it saw as government interference, the CFCM summoned an emergency meeting later Wednesday.

A source close to the Paris Mosque rector said the CFCM board may resign in protest.

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