New Charlie Hebdo cover finds Mohammed crying, declaring 'Je Suis Charlie'

PARIS, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The new cover of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo forgives and teases as it finds a depiction of the prophet Mohammed holding a "Je Suis Charlie" poster under the banner "Tout est Pardonné" (All is forgiven).

The French publication released the cover art to the press Monday -- it's the first since 12 people were murdered in a terrorist attack at its Paris office on Jan. 7 -- ahead of the new issue's release on Wednesday.

The poignant illustration will appear in the three million issues the weekly will have printed for its comeback edition, a notable increase considering its normal circulation of 45,000 issues.

The art featured on the cover, a shot at some Muslims' concerns about the depiction of Mohammed, is symbolic of the kind of illustrations that led to the terrorist attack on the newspaper's office. Two gunmen were filmed leaving the crime scene last Wednesday claiming they had "avenged" the prophet.

Renald Luzier, who drew the cartoon on the cover, said the process felt "cathartic."

"I didn't know if it was going to be possible for me to draw, quite honestly," he said.

Gerard Briard, who took over as editor of the magazine after the death of Stéphane Charbonnier in the attack, said the process of deciding what Wednesday's cover should be was "complicated."

"It had to say something about us, and it had to say something about the event with which we were confronted," he said.

When Luzier showed the staff the cartoon he drew, "we all burst out laughing and we jumped up with joy."

The controversial image will not be shown by several U.S. and international publications because of its content.

Five of Charlie Hebdo's cartoonists, including Charbonnier, were killed in last week's terrorist attack. Two men who were suspects of the massacre were killed in a standoff with police on Jan. 9.