The war of words between Umno Youth and DAP appears to have ended for now, with both parties acting to remove the thorn in each other's side.

Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein was quoted as saying yesterday that a cartoon would be removed from the political wing's website which depicted DAP leaders as communists.

He said since DAP had relegated its article on Malaya's independence fighters to its archives, "it's not a problem" for Umno Youth to remove the cartoon as well.

A check by malaysiakini today showed that the cartoon has been relocated to the website archives.

The two groups had been involved in verbal sparring over an article posted on the DAP website on Sept 3. Written by international affairs secretary Ronnie Liu, it argued that numerous individuals had been part of the independence struggle, including former Communist Party Malaya leader Chin Peng.

It also stated that many Umno leaders had been high-ranking civil servants of the British prior to independence.

Umno Youth, which disputed the interpretation and demanded a public apology, then retaliated with a cartoon featuring the faces of several leaders on the cover of Chin Peng's autobiography, Alias Chin Peng: My Side of History.

The cartoon used photos of ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, party chairperson Karpal Singh and Liu, together with those of PAS top leaders Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and Abdul Hadi Awang.

Tactical retreat?

When contacted this afternoon about the relocation of the cartoon, Umno Youth assistant secretary Abdul Rahman Dahlan would only say: "If you look for it, it is there. The cartoon is not on the main page of the website. It's in the archives because it's history."

He declined to state whether this amounted to withdrawal of the cartoon, but said DAP should issue an apology to settle the issue.

"I don't see why the cartoon has become an issue. DAP has been so petty. I just want to ask DAP to apologise and move on," he said.

"What's wrong with saying 'sorry' when you have offended someone? No one is an angel... when you know you are wrong, just say sorry."

DAP leader Teresa Kok said that moving Liu's article to the archives does not mean that the party has withdrawn it.

"The article went into the archives because the main page cannot accommodate so many statements and articles," she said, adding that the party would only discuss the matter during its central committee meeting slated for next week.

She also said Hishammuddin was "lying" because the Umno Youth cartoon remains accessible in the archives of its website.

"I wonder if Hishammuddin has checked his own website," she added.