New Charlie Hebdo issue sells out

2 million more copies planned; publication of latest page 1 cartoon criticized by some

The first edition of Charlie Hebdo to be published after the deadly attacks by Islamist gunmen sold out within minutes at newspaper kiosks around France on Wednesday, with people lining up to buy copies to support the satirical weekly.

The weekly will print 5 million copies of this week's issue to meet the overwhelming demand, the distributors said.

"The editor decided this morning to increase the print run to 5 million," said Veronique Faujour, head of the press distribution firm MLP.

That is 2 million more copies than initially planned in the wake of the jihadist attack that decimated the weekly's staff on Jan 7.

A print run of up to 3 million copies was set for what has been called "the survivors' edition", dwarfing the usual 60,000 run. Yet many outlets were selling out fast.

"It's important for me to buy it and show solidarity by doing so, and not only by marching," said a 42-year old in the same line, adding he had no guarantee he would get a copy because he had not reserved one the day before.

Iran condemned the publication of the new cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad by the French weekly on Wednesday, saying it was "insulting" and "provocative".

The front page cover "provokes the emotions of Muslims and hurts their feelings around the world, and could fan the flame of a vicious circle of extremism," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham.

Iran has strongly condemned last week's deadly assault on the weekly's Paris offices by Islamic extremists who killed 12 people. Afkham said the attack was against Islam's teachings.

The Islamic State group's radio described the new cartoon as an "extremely stupid" act on Wednesday.

"Charlie Hebdo has again published cartoons insulting the Prophet, and this is an extremely stupid act," said a statement read on Al-Bayan radio, which the jihadist group broadcasts in areas under its control in Syria and Iraq.

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with French President Francois Hollande on Friday morning to discuss last week's attacks.

Yemen's al-Qaida branch claimed responsibility on Wednesday for last week's deadly attack on a Paris satirical weekly, with one of its top commanders saying the assault was in revenge for its publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, considered an insult in Islam.

The claim came in a video posting by Nasr al-Ansi, a top commander of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP as the branch is known, which appeared on the group's Twitter account.

In the 11-minute video, al-Ansi said the assault on Charlie Hebdo, which killed 12 people - including editors, cartoonists and journalists, as well as two police officers - was in "revenge for the Prophet".

He said AQAP "chose the target, laid out the plan and financed the operation" against the weekly, though he produced no evidence to support the claim.

The assault was the beginning of three days of terror in France that saw 17 people killed before the perpetrators, three Islamic extremist attackers, were gunned down by security forces.

Al-Ansi accused France of belonging to the "party of Satan" and said the European country "shared all of America's crimes" against Muslims - a reference to France's military offensive in Mali. He warned of more "tragedies and terror" in the future.

Washington considers AQAP as one of al-Qaida's most dangerous offshoots.

Formed in 2009 as a merger between the terror group's Yemeni and Saudi branches, AQAP has been blamed for a string of unsuccessful bomb plots against US citizen targets.

AP - AFP - Reuters