Charlie Hebdo prints 2.5 mln copies in second edition after attack

In its second edition since the fatal attack which targeted its main cartoonists in January, French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday said this week's print run stood at 2.5 million copies, announcing a return to its regular publication.

With the headline: "Here we go again!", this week's cover features a range of political and religious figures, including former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Marine Le Pen Head of far-right National Front (FN) party, a jihadist and the pope as a pack of rabid dogs.

After "the survival issue" published on Jan. 14, the newspaper's print run was set at 2.5 million, sharply up from a normal average of 60,000 copies.

"We needed a break, a rest... There were those who needed to work again straight away, like me, and those who wanted to take more time... We reached a compromise, and agreed on February 25 to start off again on a weekly basis", France 24 quoted Gerard Biard, the publication's new chief editor, as saying.

On Jan. 7, two gunmen stormed Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris and killed 12 people, among them the newspaper's four main cartoonists.

In the first edition since the shooting, Charlie Hebdo published a front page showing a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad holding a paper written on it "I'm Charlie" below the headline "All is forgiven."

For the first time, the satirical weekly sold unprecedented 8 million copies, a week after the attack. It was being printed in Spanish, Arabic, Italian, Turkish and English in a show of support for the paper. Endit