WASHINGTON, Aug 16: A leading US Republican lawmaker has sparked a furore for his use of a pejorative term to refer to an Asian man of Indian descent, US media reported on Tuesday.

The Washington Post reported that Senator George Allen, who is running for re-election to his Senate seat representing the southern state of Virginia, apologised on Monday for what his opponent’s campaign said were demeaning and insensitive comments.

In remarks Friday at campaign rally in Virginia, Allen reportedly referred to the Indian-American man — a volunteer with the Senate campaign of his Democratic opponent — as a ‘macaca’.

Macaca is the Latin name for a type of monkey found in Southeast Asia, and in some European cultures is considered a racial slur against African immigrants, the Post said.

Senator Allen appeared to take exception to the presence of the opposition party’s young aide at his campaign event, the Post reported.

“This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He’s with my opponent. He’s following us around everywhere. And it’s just great,” the daily quoted the senator as saying during a campaign stop Friday, reporting that Allen’s supporters broke into laughter at the remark.

“Let’s give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia,” Allen is quoted as saying.

The Post identified the campaign worker as S.R. Sidarth, 20, a volunteer aide with the James Webb for US Senate campaign and native-born Virginian.

The daily reported that the opposition Webb campaign was highly critical of Allen’s remarks.

“The kid has a name,” Webb communications director Kristian Denny Todd told the daily. “This is trying to demean him, to minimize him as a person.”

Allen told The Post that he did not realize that macaca had a pejorative meaning and apologized if his use of the word gave offense.—AFP