Drowned Syrian toddler’s father wept over cartoon

Arbil, Iraq — The father of a drowned Syrian toddler wept when he saw a cartoon depicting his son as an adult involved in harassment, and said that the family is “in shock.” “When I saw the picture, I cried,” Abdullah Kurdi told AFP by telephone, adding: “My family is still in shock.” He also said in a written statement that the cartoon in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was “inhuman and immoral” and as bad as the actions of the “war criminals and terrorists” who have caused widespread death and displacement in Syria and elsewhere. Abdullah’s three-year-old son Aylan’s body was photographed lying face down on a Turkish beach after he drowned on the crossing to Greece, a bleak image that helped focus international attention on the plight of refugees making the perilous journey to Europe. Aylan’s four-year-old brother and his mother also died in the accident. Charlie Hebdo ran a cartoon depicting Aylan as a man chasing after a woman with a caption asking: “What would have become of small Aylan if he grew up?“ The Charlie Hebdo drawing has triggered sharp criticism on social networks while Aylan’s relatives in Canada expressed “disgust.” The magazine declined to comment. In response Queen Rania of Jordan posted a cartoon on Facebook and Twitter by Jordan’s Osama Hajjaj depicting the little boy lying face down on the beach alongside an older child with a backpack and finally a doctor. The queen added the caption: “Aylan could’ve been a doctor, a teacher, a loving parent.” — Agencies