Agence France-Presse did not wish to be associated with the letter of support for Charlie Hebdo, again the target of threats after republishing the cartoons of Muhammad.

The management assures that it wants to protect its journalists posted in Muslim countries where blasphemy is prohibited.

But internally, this decision is highly criticized. 

The decision is controversial, including internally.

On Wednesday, nearly a hundred media, including Europe 1, published an open letter calling for mobilization in favor of freedom of expression, in support of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, the subject of new threats after having decided to republish the Muhammad cartoons.

But a major title does not appear in the list of signatories: Agence France-Presse. 

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This is not an oversight.

AFP has been contacted to sign this text.

But she refused to do so, emphasizing her desire not to endanger her correspondents living in Muslim countries, where blasphemy is not a right.

AFP "knew that it would expose itself to reactions of incomprehension, to cowardly trials, to denunciations of submission" but made "the safety" of journalists in the field "first and foremost," explained the CEO of the agency, Fabrice Fries, while adding in a statement that "AFP management is alarmed by the new threats weighing on Charlie Hebdo and expresses its full solidarity with its teams".

Internally, we denounce "an abdication"

But internally, the decision is struggling to pass.

In a virulent press release, the agency's SNJ union and members of the Society of Journalists condemn her and express their "dismay".

For them, the management's argument is not admissible.

At the beginning of September, the SNJ was already moved when AFP had published a modified version of the front page of

Charlie Hebdo

where the cartoons of Muhammad appeared.

His press release ends with this sentence: "The AFP leadership is abusing Charlie's front page and boycotting a letter of support for his editorial staff. This development, which is an abdication, saddens us and makes us ashamed".