10 dead as French firms, cultural centre, churches attacked in former French colony Niger

[enhanced_deficit]

"Clash of civilization" spiking in former French colonies of Niger, Algier among other countries as French citizens are warned to stay indoors.

Niger rioters torch churches and attack French firms in Charlie Hebdo protest

At lease five killed as armed protesters angered by cartoon of prophet Muhammad go on rampage in capital

latest attacks came the day after five people died and 45 were injured in clashes in Niger’s second-largest city, Zinder, where a French cultural centre and cafe was also attacked.

Emma Graham-Harrison
Saturday 17 January 2015 17.24 EST

At least five people died when rioters burned churches and cars and attacked French-linked businesses across Niger on Saturday, in violent protests against the publication of a cartoon of Muhammad on the cover of Charlie Hebdo magazine.
President Mahamadou Issoufou said all five of the dead were civilians, with four of them killed inside burned churches or bars.
Ten people have died in two days of violence across the west African nation. Five died and 45 were injured in clashes on Friday in Niger’s second largest city, Zinder, where a French cultural centre and cafe were also hit.
The majority of Niger’s 17 million population is Muslim, but the country is also home to many Christians. Last year, the United Nations declared the land-locked country north of Nigeria the poorest nation on earth.
As protesters in Niamey burned the French flag, and the embassy there urged French citizens to stay at home, France’s president, François Hollande, reiterated his country’s commitment to freedom of expression.
“I’m thinking of countries where sometimes they don’t understand what freedom of expression is because they have been deprived of it. But also, we have supported these countries in their fight against terrorism,” said Hollande, on a visit to Tulle, central France.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-hebdo-protest





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Richard Malka, a lawyer of the French radio said ‘’it is unthinkable that in 2013 such statements are made."

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Jan 9, 2015 - Richard Malka currently appears to be playing a major role in the affairs ... has been named as the 15th most powerful lawyer in France by GQ ...

Jan 16th, 2015
In defense of freedom of expression
This time the magazine did not publish only 60,000 copies as it usually does, but three million copies, thanks to the generous help that it has received from various sources and also with the help of cartoonists from all over the world.
Richard Malka, a Sephardic Jew, who saw ten colleagues and four of his co-religionists massacred on that dreadful day, was one of the first to call for the magazine to continue functioning. When asked whether they would publish more cartoons of Muhammad, he replied in an interview with France Info radio on Monday: Naturally. We will not give in, otherwise all this wont have meant anything.

Free speech tops all other considerations

http://www.jewishheritagemonth.com/s...expression.php

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"Everything that symbolizes France will disappear in Niger before we calm down," one demonstrator vowed.