Agence France Presse

Islamabad, May 14:

The Washington Times has sent its regrets to the Pakistan embassy in the US over a cartoon that Islamabad said was contemptuous of Pakistan’s role in the US war on terror, officials said today.

The regret came in a letter written by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. “The cartoonist inadvertently caused offence to Pakistani citizens,” Wesley Pruden said, according to foreign ministry spokesman Jail Abbas Jilani. “This was not his intention and nor was it the intention of the newspaper.” The cartoon published on May 6 showed a dog personifying Pakistan and a US soldier patting it for its role in fight against terror.

Pakistan’s parliament pas-sed a unanimous resolution condemning it and demanded an apology from the newspaper. Jilani said “we are glad the Washington Times has regretted something which has hurt the feelings of Pakistanis and the forces of moderation.”