The French government has called for restraint after learning that a satirical weekly plans to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday just as an anti-Islam video has ignited Muslim protests around the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n The Paris offices of the paper, Charlie Hebdo, were firebombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Mohammad, and in 2005 Danish cartoons of the Prophet sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world in which at least 50 people were killed.<\/span><\/p>\n Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, asked about the publication, said any provocation now could only be condemned.<\/span><\/p>\n Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault issued a statement saying: “In the current climate, the prime minister wishes to stress his disapproval of all excess and calls on everyone to behave responsibly.”<\/span><\/p>\n France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim population. Calls are already circulating on social networks and the Internet for protests on Saturday over an anti-Islam film that was made with private funds in the United States and posted on the Internet.<\/span><\/p>\n Last Sunday police arrested about 150 people who sought to take part in an unapproved protest near the U.S. Embassy in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n In the torrent of violence blamed on the film, U.S. and other Western embassies have been attacked in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed last week in an attack in Benghazi, and Afghan militants killed 12 people in a suicide attack on Tuesday that they said was in retaliation for the film.<\/span><\/p>\n Charlie Hebdo, renowned for its irreverent treatment of the political establishment and public figures, argued that it had the right to uphold that tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n “We do caricatures of everyone, and above all every week, and when we do it with the Prophet, it’s called provocation,” the paper’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, told the news channel i>TELE.<\/span><\/p>\n He said that if Charlie Hebdo stopped printing satirical work because of pressure or fear of offence, it would be reduced to selling 16 blank pages every week.<\/span><\/p>\n Cartoons seen by Reuters that were due to be published on the inside pages of the paper included a series of images, including nude caricatures, poking fun at Mohammad.<\/span><\/p>\n Many Muslims object to any representation of Allah or Mohammad or to irreverent treatment of the Koran.<\/span><\/p>\n The main body representing Muslims in France, the French Muslim Council (CFCM), accused Charlie Hebdo of firing up anti-Muslim sentiment at a sensitive time.<\/span><\/p>\n “The CFCM is deeply attached to freedom of speech but considers that nothing can justify insult and inciting hatred,” it said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n “The CFCM calls on the Muslims of France not to give in to such provocation and urges them to express their indignation calmly and in lawful manner.”<\/span><\/p>\n Charlie Hebdo has got into hot water on similar issues more than once.<\/span><\/p>\n Former editor Philippe Val was pursued in French courts on charges of racial injury, and ultimately acquitted, after the paper reprinted the Danish cartoons of Mohammad.<\/span><\/p>\n (Additional reporting by Gerard Bon; Editing by Kevin Liffey)<\/p>\nCHARLIE HEBDO REFUSES TO BOW<\/h2>\n