The New Straits Times (NST), which has been embroiled in a cartoon controversy, published an unreserved apology on its front-page, saying 'it is a process involving the human factor and humans err'.

Alongside its apology, the daily also dragged the state-owned RTM and a weblog, which it did not name, into the fray.

According to the report, NST had also responded to a show-cause letter issued by the Internal Security Ministry on Wednesday.

"We told the ministry, the same thing we are telling you - that we may have misjudged how different people would react to the cartoon, which as we pointed out to the authorities, was NOT one of the 12 produced by Danish cartoonists that outraged Muslims throughout the world. It was a totally different cartoon," it said.

It added that the Non Sequitur comic strip, which sparked off the controversy, did not contain a caricature of Prophet Muhammad nor was there any derogatory comment made about the Prophet or Islam.

It is because of this, the newspaper said, it did not find anything offensive about the cartoon.

"Perhaps, in more ordinary circumstances, such a cartoon would not have received more than a passing mention. Yet, these are different times. The Muslim world was outraged by the blasphemy committed by the Danish and European newspapers," it added.

Police report

The 160-year-old newspaper, one of the oldest in the region, stressed that it had always been sensitive to religious feelings.

Reiterating that the cartoon did not contain any offensive elements, it said: "Unfortunately, one blog and some media, including (Information Minister) Zainuddin's (Maidin) RTM, highlighted the cartoon and came to the verdict that the NST has mocked the Prophet and Islam."

"From there, the issue took a life of its own," it added.

The newspaper also revealed that on Tuesday, its publisher the New Straits Times Press Bhd (NSTP) lodged a police report against the abovementioned blog for inciting religious hatred against the NSTP.

On the same note, the daily said it was willing to accept and abide by any action taken by the government against the newspaper or its executives.

Yesterday, malaysiakin i reported that New Straits Times purportedly had evidence that TV2's Mandarin News had one occasion zoomed in on the image of the caricatures (drawn by Danish cartoonists) twice and the image filled up the television screen.

It was also revealed that a recording of that footage had been sent to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.