PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday he understood andrespected the feelings aroused by caricatures of Holy Prophet Mohammed(PBUH) in a bid to calm tensions with Muslims in France and around theworld but vowed never to accept violence.
The French president spoke to an Arab TV channel when he issued thesecomments, hinting that he sought to calm flaring tensions with Muslimsaround the world. However, he lashed out at “lies” that the French statewas behind the caricatures.
France is on edge after the republication in early September of cartoons ofHoly Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) by the Charlie Hebdo weekly, which wasfollowed by an attack outside its former offices, the beheading of ateacher, and an attack on a church in Nice Thursday that left three peopledead.
*Read more: France knife attack leaves at least three dead, say policelink*
The country was further shaken by a new incident on Saturday, when anattacker armed with a shotgun shot an Orthodox priest as he closed hischurch in the French city of Lyon before fleeing, a police source said.
The 52-year-old priest, who has Greek nationality, was shot in the liver atpoint-blank range and taken to hospital in a serious condition, the sourcesadded.
A suspect was arrested later Saturday, Lyon’s public prosecutor said, withthe motive of the attack remaining unclear.Protests in Islamic world
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The Islamic world had erupted in large protests in various countries —fuelled by Muslim leaders — after Macron said France would never renounceits laws for freedom of speech and that permitted blasphemous caricatures.
The French president’s remarks had come after the gruesome killing earlierthis month of Samuel Paty, a teacher who had shown his class thecontroversial cartoons and was subsequently beheaded by an 18-year-oldMuslim of Chechen descent, Abdoullakh Abouyedovich Anzorov.
*Also read: Saudi man arrested for attempted stabbing of guard at Frenchconsulate in Jeddah link*
In his recent interview to Qatar-based TV channel *Al-Jazeera*, Macronstruck a softer tone and described in length his vision. “I can understandthat people could be shocked by the caricatures but I will never acceptthat violence can be justified,” he said.
