Amid increasing tensions with fringe Islamist radicals, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has decided to halt its publication for a brief period.
Despite losing 12 of its team members in the terrorist attack on its office by two Islamist radical gunmen, Charlie Hebdo had boldly published a 'survivor issue' within a week of the attack. The post-attack issue sold nearly seven million copies world over.
The publication, however, has decided to take a break now. "Dear readers, the entire Charlie Hebdo team wants to thank each and every one of you for the huge support and all the sympathy we have received in the past weeks. We are not forgetting you and will be back in the news-stands in the next weeks," says a message on the official Charlie Hebdo website.
Charlie Hebdo spokesperson Michel Salion assured that "there will be a future" for the newspaper, but as of now the staff needed time to recover from the shock of the murders.
Laurent Léger, a journalist who is a part of the satire magazine on Twitter noted that the next issue will be out by 25 February.
Charlie Hebdo, which is known for its satirical cartoons of political and religious leaders, in its survivor issue on 14 January featured a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad holding an "I Am Charlie" sign. Above the image are the words: "All is forgiven."
The issue once again triggered an angry reaction in the Muslim countries with many radical groups issuing threats to the surviving members of the publication.
