The slain editor of Charlie Hebdo, Stephane Charbonnier, had been at the receiving end of death threats for a long time before the terrorists stormed into his office and shot him and other journalists on Wednesday.
Charbonnier had been on the top of the al-Qaeda's hit list which the terror group published in 2013 under the headline 'Wanted: Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam'.
The list revealed al-Qaeda's intolerance for cartoons depicting their religion, as many of those listed were cartoonists mainly associated with the controversial cartoon published in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, which Charlie Hebdo had republished.
Charlie Hebdo's office had been firebombed in 2011 after it published a caricature of Prophet Muhammad in 2011, an act considered sacrilegious in Islam. Charbonnier, or 'Charb' as he was fondly known, had defended the cartoon and even published a similar one the next year.
The cartoons earned Charb a place in the al-Qaeda hit list, which it openly publicised in its magazine 'Inspire' in 2013.
Here are the other people who made it to the dreaded list, as reported by The Wire–
Carsten Juste & Flemming Rose: They were the editors of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published a cartoon on Prophet Muhammad that sparked a major controversy in 2005.
Kurt Westergaard: He is the cartoonist who made one of the most widely shared cartoons that showed the Prophet with a bomb in his turban, which sparked the most volatile reactions from the Muslim community worldwide.
He survived an 'axe' attack in 2010 by a Muslim man who was allegedly seeking revenge for the cartoon.
Molly Norris: She is an American cartoonist who faced death threats and even a fatwa for encouraging people to draw images of Prophet Muhammad as a sign of protest against censorship.
Lars Vilks: He is a Swedish cartoonist who drew cartoons depicting the Prophet in 2007, and has faced threats ever since, even escaping a murder attempt.
Apart from cartoonists, the list also features politicians, activists and authors, including Salman Rushdie, the author of The Satanic Verses.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: She is a Somali-born American activist and politician who has openly voiced her thoughts against Islam after the 9/11 attacks, and had to relocate to the United States when the Dutch government, in which she was a MP, revoked her citizenship.
Morris Sadek: He is an Egyptian American lawyer and activist and has been a vocal critic of Islam. He was behind the anti-Islamic Youtube film 'Innocence of Muslims', and even reportedly called for war against Egypt.
Terry Jones: The Florida pastor earned Muslim ire when he suggested burning copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. He is also said to be behind an an-Islam video series that he reportedly uses in his sermons.
Salman Rushdie: The India-born author sparked controversy with his book 'The Satanic Verses', which even earned him a fatwa by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Geert Wilders: The Dutch politician, who founded the 'Party for Freedom' has made several anti-Islam comments and has even been charged for his hate speeches.
