A defiant Charlie Hebdo has released its first cover since Islamist fanatics burst into its offices in Paris and murdered 12 people.
It centres on an image of the Prophet Mohammed, who is shedding a single tear and holding a sign which declares: 'Je Suis Charlie'.
Above the figure, who is drawn in comic style wearing a turban, the text declares: 'Tout est pardonné (All is forgiven)'.
The cover was released tonight and published by the French newspaper Libération, which has provided a home for the surviving staff under heavy guard.
Within minutes it was circulating around the world on social media and blogs, although for the most part, it was not published in British media.
It was signed by Luz, the same staff cartoonist who drew an image of the Prophet Mohammed on the magazine's cover three years ago, leading fanatics to firebomb the magazine's offices.
Luz, real name Renald Luzier, 42, avoided last week's mass murder because he overslept by half an hour and was late for work.
The cover's release came after the magazine's lawyer Richard Malka said the new edition would 'of course' contain images of the Prophet Mohammed, who Islamic codes dictate should not be depicted.
'We will not give in,' he told a radio station. 'The spirit of "Je suis Charlie" means the right to blaspheme.
'We will not give in otherwise all this won't have meant anything. A Je Suis Charlie banner means you have the right to criticise my religion, because it's not serious.
'We have never criticised a Jew because he's a Jew, a Muslim because he's a Muslim or a Christian because he's a Christian.
'But you can say anything you like, the worst horrors – and we do – about Christianity, Judaism and Islam, because behind the nice slogans, that's the reality of Charlie Hebdo.'
Up to 3 million copies of Charlie Hebdo - whose usual circulation is 60,000 - will be printed on Wednesday.
An initial batch of 1 million copies will be available on Wednesday and Thursday, said Michel Salion, a spokesman for MPL, which distributes Charlie Hebdo.
A further 2 million could then be printed depending on demand.'We have requests for 300,000 copies throughout the world - and demand keeps rising by the hour,' he said, adding that the newspaper usually had just 4,000 international clients.'The million will go. As of Thursday, the decision will probably be taken to print extra copies ... So we'll have one million, plus two if necessary.'
Seventeen people, including journalists and police, were killed in three days of violence that began last Wednesday when militants burst into Charlie Hebdo's office during a regular editorial meeting and shot dead five of its leading cartoonists.The attack and the events surrounding it led to a mostly unified global effort for free speech to prevail, which then led to the march of 1.5 million people in Paris. According to Yahoo News, the march was the largest rally in French history.
On Sunday, at least 3.7 million people took part throughout France in marches of support for Charlie Hebdo and freedom of expression.
The new edition of Charlie Hebdo will also make fun of politicians and other religions.
People should not allow religious fanatics to intimidate them. Everyone has a right to hold his own opinion on any issue
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