French embassy in Cairo plans to temporarily close its doors on Thursday following publication of offensive cartoons depicting Prophet Mohamed in prominent French magazine The French embassy in Cairo on Wednesday announced that it would close its doors starting Thursday following the publication of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohamed without clothes in prominent French magazine Charlie Hebdo. The embassy stated it would resume work on Sunday. According to a statement from France's Consul General in Cairo, French schools and cultural centres, too, will be closed. The latest batch of cartoons has prompted fears of a similar public reaction in Egypt to that seen last week at the US embassy, which was stormed by angry demonstrators protesting an anti-Islam short film produced in the US. Last week's clashes between protesters and police at the US embassy in Cairo's Garden City district went on for five days, leaving at least two dead and hundreds injured. A number of demonstrators were also arrested. As of press time, the French embassy was surrounded by more than 20 trucks belonging to Egypt's Central Security Forces in anticipation of demonstrations.