French humor magazine satirizing firebombed as it names "Mohammed" editor

From the BBC yesterday:

French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo has named the Prophet Muhammad as "editor-in-chief" for its next issue to mark the electoral victory of Islamist party Ennahda in Tunisia.

It will be renamed Sharia Hebdo, the weekly said in a statement on Monday.

The publication's editor-in-chief and cartoonist Charb said they were not trying to be especially provocative.

Ennahda won the most seats in Tunisia's October elections and is now trying to form a coalition caretaker government.

"To fittingly celebrate the victory of the Islamist Ennahda party in Tunisia... Charlie Hebdo has asked Muhammad to be the special editor-in-chief of its next issue", the magazine said in a statement.

"The prophet of Islam didn't have to be asked twice and we thank him for it," the statement said.

The cover of the next issue, which comes out on Wednesday, shows Muhammad saying "100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter".

It will also include an editorial piece by the Prophet entitled Halal Aperitif and a women's supplement called Madam Sharia.

Charb told the AFP news agency: "We don't feel like causing further provocation. We simply feel like doing our job as usual. The only difference this week is that Muhammad is on the cover and it's pretty rare to put him on the cover."

Here's the cover picture:

But by what must be considered a sheer coincidence, the magazine was firebombed this morning, hours before the issue was to go on sale:

The offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo have been burned out in a petrol-bomb attack after a special Arab spring edition entitled "Sharia Hebdo" featured a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad on the cover as "guest editor".

At around 1am the offices were gutted after a petrol bomb was thrown into a window and set light to the computer system, blowing out windows and burning most of the office contents.

(h/t Silke, Tundra Tabloids)