German tabloid Hamburger Morgenpost was reportedly firebombed Sunday after reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons following last week’s terror attacks on the French satire magazine.
Police in the northern German port city of Hamburg said no one was injured in the blaze and the tabloid’s headquarters was only slightly damaged in the attack that occurred about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Rocks and then a burning object were thrown through the window,” a police spokesman said. “Two rooms on lower floors were damaged but the fire was put out quickly.”
The Hamburger Morgenpost, known by locals as the MOPO, ran the Charlie Hebdo cartoons — with the headline “This much freedom must be possible!” — shortly after the Wednesday terror attack at Charlie Hebdo’s Paris offices, which left 12 people dead.
Police said it was “too certain” to determine if the firebombing was related to the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, AFP reported.
The Morgenpost posted an article about the vandalism online, titled, “Arson attack on the MOPO — Due to the ’Charlie Hebdo’ cartoons?”
Police said two men, aged 35 and 39, were detained after acting in “an unusual manner” near the scene. State security has opened an investigation, police told AFP.
The incident came after a Saturday meeting in Hamburg of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, the Independent reported.
“We have made clear that the events in France, this barbaric terrorist act, are a challenge for all of us, for the values that we advocate, to fight for them,” Ms. Merkel said.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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