Africa Map

African Press Agency

African Press Agency Logo
   

 Home
 Country Profile
 Useful Links
 Contact us

Home

NIGER/PROTESTERSBack
[Published: Saturday January 17 2015]
Niger protesters set churches on fire
Niamey, 17 Jan - (ANA) - At least two churches have been set on fire in the capital of Niger amid fresh protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo's cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Saturday's protests began outside Niamey's grand mosque with police using tear gas a day after at least four were killed in the second city of Zinder. The French embassy has warned its citizens to stay indoors. Last week, Islamist gunmen killed 12 people at the magazine's Paris offices. Eight of them were journalists. Subsequent attacks in Paris killed another five people, four at a Jewish supermarket. The cover of the magazine's latest edition, published after the attack, featured a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying "I am Charlie". Seven million copies of the edition are being printed in view of extraordinary demand, distributors announced on Saturday. The magazine's print run before the attack was 60,000. Many Muslims see any depiction of Islam's prophet as offensive. Protests against the magazine were also seen on Friday in Pakistan, where protests turned violent in Karachi, the Sudanese capital of Khartoum and the Algerian capital, Algiers. People in Somalia took to the streets on Saturday. In Niger, a former French colony, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Niamey's grand mosque, shouting "God is Great" in Arabic. At least two churches were set on fire - similar to Friday's demonstration in Zinder where protesters also raided shops that were run by Christians. The French cultural centre in Zinder also came under attack. The centre's director, Kaoumi Bawa, said an angry crowd of around 50 people had smashed the building's door and  set fire to the cafeteria, library and offices.(ANA)
FA/ANA/17 January 2015--------
 
 
 

North South News website

Advertise banner

News icon US/Colombia Uni/Protest
News icon US/Elections
News icon US/Yale/Protests
News icon EU/Sweden/Russia
News icon UK/Rwanda/HRW
News icon Angola/Security Law
News icon UNRWA/Israel
News icon Rwanda/UK Migrants
News icon West Africa/Drug Trafficking
News icon Google/Israel/Protests

AFRICAN PRESS AGENCY Copyright © 2005 - 2007