'Luz' Whose Cartoons Drew Jihadist Attacks Is Leaving Charlie Hebdo

The cartoonist who drew the sensational cover cartoons of Prophet Mohammed has announced that he is leaving Charlie Hebdo.

Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Renald "Luz" Luzier, who drew the first cover following the January 7 attack on its headquarters for showing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, announced Monday that he would be leaving the paper in September, according to france24.

The main reason for Luzier's departure was that bringing out every issue without his colleagues had become "torture". His departure had nothing to do with the "internal staff tensions" of the publication.

"This is a very personal choice," said Luz, who joined Charlie Hebdo in 1992, in an interview published Monday in French newspaper Libération.

"Each issue is torture because the others are gone. Spending sleepless nights summoning the dead - wondering what Charb, Cabu, Honoré, Tignous would have done - is exhausting," the cartoonist said, recalling his colleagues who had been killed.

Charlie Hebdo, the left-leaning magazine, is well-known due to it sensational and lewd take on world affairs, poking fun at all celebrities, presidents and popes. However, on January 7, two al Qaedists gunned down members of the magazine.

Those killed included Georges Wolinski, Bernard "Tignous" Verlhac, Philippe Honoré and Jean "Cabu" Cabut, some of France's best-known cartoonists; columnist Elsa Cayat; copy editor Mustapha Ourrad; economist Bernard Maris; and policeman Franck Brinsolaro, who died trying to guard Charlie Hebdo editor Stéphane "Charb" Charbonnier, who also died in the attack, even though she had got police protection since 2011 for other cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Police officer Ahmed Merabet was killed after opening fire on the gunmen. Maintenance worker Frédéric Boisseau and Michel Renaud, a visitor to the Charlie Hebdo offices, were also killed.

Just a week following the attacks, Luz drew the magazine's cover image, showing the prophet with a tear running down his cheek and holding up a sign reading, "Je suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie"). Overhead was written the phrase: "Tout est Pardonné" ("All is Forgiven").

Luz explained what had inspired him. "I had this idea in my head, but it was not enough to make the front page," said Luz. "All I had was this idea of drawing Mohammed with 'Je suis Charlie'... I looked at him, and he was crying. Above him I wrote 'All is forgiven', and then I cried."

While the issue got a print run of a record eight million, Luz said that he was no longer interested in drawing the Prophet Mohammed. "Many people push me to keep going, but they forget that the trouble is finding inspiration," Luz told Libération.

Although he did want to leave a long time ago, he had "continued in solidarity, to let nobody down".

"Except that at one point, it was too much to bear," he added.

Of course, his departure would cost Charlie Hebdo, which had wanted to recruit new talent when it shot to fame thanks to his cartoons.

Charb's last cartoon, entitled "Still No Attacks in France", showed an extremist fighter saying, "Just wait - we have until the end of January to present our New Year's wishes."

Interestingly, the paper had been on the edge of bankruptcy just before the shooting, but the tragedy got it overnight fame. It saw donations pouring in from all over the world, as well as the Twitter hashtag #jesuischarlie going viral and becoming a symbol for freedom of speech.

The donations have been hefty, with €30 million. French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin is offering €1 million "to ensure its continuation" while the Digital Innovation Press Fund - backed by Internet search giant Google - pledged €250,000. The Guardian announced a donation of €128,000 to help the magazine, as did other media organizations.

Charlie Hebdo's management said Monday that €4.3 million ($4.8 million) in private donations, received from 36,000 people in 84 different countries, would be "handed over in full to the victims".