A French satirical weekly reprinted cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad yesterday and published one of its own on its front page, further angering Muslim groups which say the caricatures are blasphemous.

French Muslim organizations tried to prevent the weekly Charlie-Hebdo from reprinting the 12 cartoons, which were first published by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten, but a court rejected their suit on Tuesday on a technicality.

The weekly's front page carried the new cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammad burying his face in his hands and saying: ?It's hard to be loved by fools.?

<B>Decision explained</B>

Inside pages showed the 12 cartoons that were first printed in Denmark and included an editorial explaining the decision to reprint them.

?When extremists extract concessions from democracies on points of principle, either by blackmail or terror, democracies do not have long left?, Charlie-Hebdo editor Philippe Val wrote in the editorial.

As well as publishing the Danish cartoons, Charlie-Hebdo published other cartoons on its back page which caricatured other religions including Christianity and Judaism.

Sources at Charlie-Hebdo said some staff had been placed under police protection.

Two police officers were on guard in front of the weekly's offices in the center of Paris yesterday morning.

French Muslim organizations said they would continue to try to take legal steps against Charlie-Hebdo and the daily newspaper France Soir, which reprinted the controversial cartoons last week. France Soir later sacked its editor.

?We would have hoped for there to be a willingness to calm things down?, said Fouad Alaoui of the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF).

?Charlie-Hebdo wants to fan the flames. France?s Muslims say ?No?. In our societies, we must not allow insults to be encouraged,? Alaoui said.

France?s 5-million strong Muslim community is the largest in Europe and makes up 8 percent of the French population.

<B>Two killed</B>

The cartoons, reprinted by several European papers, have provoked a deepening crisis between Europe and the Muslim world. Islam prohibits any depiction of the Prophet Mohammad.

In Afghanistan, police clashed with a stone-throwing crowd protesting against the cartoons yesterday, killing two demonstrators and wounding 16.

<B>Kerstin GEHMLICH Swaha PATTANAIK</B>