Emmanuel Macron has found himself demonised at protests throughout the Islamic world as anger grows at his defence of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Bangladesh on Tuesday, branding him a ‘Satan-worshipper’ and burning him in effigy following smaller marches in Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey and Gaza on Monday.
Meanwhile hard-line Iranian newspaper Vatan-e Emrooz published a front-page cartoon of Macron as the Devil, branding him anti-Islamic and claiming that ‘French extremists’ had been seen burning copies of the Koran.
Iran also summoned the French ambassador on Tuesday in protest at Macron’s remarks, calling them ‘unwise’. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia put out a statement saying it ‘denounces the offensive cartoons of the prophet’.
Bangladeshis also added their voices to calls for a widespread boycott of French goods, with shops in Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and Palestinian territories already pulling products including makeup and food from the shelves.
