Charlie Hebdo cartoons: Pakistan protests against Macron

Demonstrators chanted slogans against French President Emmanuel Macron and stepped on pictures of him strewn on the ground. Protests have been held for days in various Muslim countries against Macron and his staunch support of secular laws that deem caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad as protected under freedom of speech.

Karachi: Angry protesters on Wednesday staged a demonstration near the French consulate in Karachi in response to France's refusal to condemn the publication of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad.

Protesters in the demonstration, organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami party, also marched towards the French Consulate in Karachi.

The issue has once again come to light in recent days following a gruesome beheading near Paris of a French teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class.

The 18-year-old Chechen refugee who carried out the attack was later shot dead by police.

The teacher, Samuel Paty, has been heralded as a symbol of France's staunch secular ideals and its rejection of religious intrusion in public spheres.

Macron and members of his government have vowed to continue supporting the protection of such caricatures under freedom of expression.

AP