The New York Post has apologised for a cartoon that some have interpreted as comparing Barack Obama to a violent chimpanzee gunned down by police, following two days of protest.
The drawing by the long-time Post cartoonist Sean Delonas, published on Wednesday, showed a dead chimp and two police officers, one with a smoking gun. The caption read: "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."
The newspaper posted an editorial on its website last night saying the cartoon was meant to mock the federal economic stimulus bill, but "to those who were offended by the image, we apologise".
The piece was posted hours after 200 picketers, chanting "Boycott the Post! Shut it down!", marched in front of the paper's office, saying the cartoon echoed racist stereotypes of black people as monkeys.
The editorial said that "most certainly was not its intent", adding that some media and public figures who have long-standing differences with the paper saw the cartoon "as an opportunity for payback".
Calling them "opportunists", the editorial said: "To them, no apology is due."
The apology left some critics unmollified. They said they might continue protesting today.
The Reverend Al Sharpton, who helped lead the outcry over the cartoon, criticised what he called the paper's "conditional statement" of regret.
"Though we think it is the right thing for them to apologise to those they offended, they seem to want to blame the offence on those (who) raised the issue, rather than take responsibility for what they did," he said in a statement.
The tabloid, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, is known for its feisty attitude, provocative headlines and conservative outlook; a mix that has garnered hundreds of thousands of readers, but also criticism over the years.
The newspaper had stood by the cartoon, which its editor called "a clear parody" of the death of Travis, the chimp killed by Connecticut police on Monday after it mauled a friend of its owner.
The editor-in-chief, Col Allan, had said the intent was to ridicule Washington's efforts to revive the economy.
