Hebdo cartoon plan slammed in Egypt

Egypt's Islamic authorities have condemned the planned issue of Charlie Hebdo featuring new cartoons of the prophet Mohammed as "an unjustifiable provocation to one and a half billion Muslims across the world".

Dar al-Iftaa, Egypt's official centre of Islamic jurisprudence, warns that the planned issue "will cause a further wave of hatred in French and Western societies, and does not serve the coexistence and dialogue of civilisations that Muslims are striving for."

The body calls on French authorities to condemn the magazine's "racist act," accusing it of "seeking to stir up religious conflict and sectarianism."

Dar al-Iftaa also warns that the wave of attacks on French mosques since the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris last week will feed extremism "on both sides."