It was intended to be a courageous gesture of solidarity and an act emphasizing the importance of free speech in Europe. Instead, the decision by the French newspaper France Soir to reprint the Muhammad caricatures that have plunged a Danish newspaper -- and indeed all of Denmark -- into a major foreign policy crisis with the Arab world, backfired. On Wednesday, the owner of the daily fired Jacques Lefranc, the daily's top editor.

In a statement released by the paper's owner, Egyptian magnate Raymond Lakah, to the news agency AFP, the publisher said he "decided to remove Jacques Lefranc as managing director of the publication as a powerful sign of respect for the intimate beliefs and convictions of every individual."

Islam prohibits any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad as part of the religion's ban on idolatry. The caricatures run by the Danish newspaper in September and reprinted by a number of European newspapers on Wednesday include drawings of Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban and Muhammad as a pupil writing on the chalkboard. The front page of France Soir on Wednesday depicted Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish and Christian gods telling Muhammad, "Don't worry Muhammad, we've all been caricatures here." The paper's headline read "Yes, We Have the Right to Caricature God."

France Soir was just one of a number of papers, including Die Welt in Germany and papers in Italy and Spain, that reprinted the cartoons on Wednesday out of solidarity with the Danish paper Jyllands Posten. In recent weeks, Denmark has been the target of numerous protests in the Middle East as a result of the caricatures and a number of Danish businesses have been hit hard by boycotts called in the Arab world against Danish products. The Danish dairy firm Arla has reported that its sales in the Middle East have dropped to virtually nothing. In addition, numerous Muslim countries have withdrawn their ambassadors from Copenhagen and bomb threats have been made against Danish facilities in the Middle East.

Officials in Tunisia and Morocco on Wednesday banned the sale of that day's issue of France Soir and Muslims groups are planning demonstrations for Friday. The Moroccan Communications Ministry released a statement condemning the "publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad under the false pretext of defense of freedom of speech."  

The French Foreign Ministry also criticized the decision by France Soir to run the caricatures. Even if freedom of expression is important to France, the ministry said, it "condemns all that hurts individuals in their beliefs or their religious convictions."

Other French media on Thursday, however, rushed to France Soir's defense. Some noted that other books had been ruthlessly satirical in their caricature portrayals of religious leaders like Pope John Paul II. If other religions could be the subject of sarcasm and humor, then why not Islam and Muhammad, too?

Meanwhile, on the culture pages of Germany's respected Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung, the journalist Christian Geyer defended the newspapers that chose to publish the caricature, noting that his own newspaper had reprinted one in its early coverage of the controversy back in November. He urged other papers to follow suitdo the same.