WASHINGTON, May 13: The Washington Times newspaper has expressed regrets for the ‘misunderstanding a derogatory cartoon they published had caused’. In a letter sent to the Pakistani embassy, WT editor-in-chief Wesley Pruden said that in his effort to portray Pakistan as a sovereign ally in the endeavour to find and punish those who would harm America and Pakistan alike, the cartoonist had inadvertently caused offence to Pakistani citizens.

This was not his intention and nor was it the intention of the newspaper, he assured the embassy. The cartoon, published on May 6, ridiculed Pakistan’s cooperation in the war against terror in a manner that hurt the sentiments of millions of people.

Mr Pruden said the newspaper had published many editorials and cartoons recently depicting the manifold contributions of Pakistan and its people to the mutual effort to eradicate terror and it would, no doubt, continue doing so in the future. He assured the embassy of the high esteem and deep respect in which the newspaper holds Pakistan and the Pakistani people.

“It’s the strong response of the Pakistani people that made the newspaper realize that it had hurt their sentiments,” said Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s deputy chief of mission in Washington.