Macron refuses to condemn Charlie Hebdo cartoons

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday declined to condemn the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo for republishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

He said he would "never qualify the editorial choices of a journalist", citing freedom of the press and freedom of expression - including the freedom to blaspheme.

He did condemn hate speech but said this didn't apply to the Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

"Sketches aren't hate speeches," Macron said.

He was speaking during a visit to the Lebanese capital Beirut on the eve of the trial in Paris of 13 people charged in connection with the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in 2015.

The magazine first published the drawings in 2006. The gunmen who opened fire on the paper's editorial staff cited the cartoons as a motivation for the attack.

Seventeen people died, along with all three attackers, during the attacks on the paper and on a kosher supermarket.