Contrary to the claim by the Sarawak Tribune that its editor responsible for publishing the controversial caricature had quit to take responsibility for his action, the editor concerned said today that he was in fact "asked to leave".

He told malaysiakini that immediately after the emergency management meeting on Saturday afternoon - the day the caricature was published in Sarawak Tribune - he was told to leave the newspaper office.

The sacked editor (name withheld for his safety) also claimed that he did not act alone. According to him, an editor more senior than him had 'okayed' the particular page where the offensive caricature appeared before it was sent for printing.

The 41-year-old ex-editor - who was editor-on-duty on the day the offending caricature went to print - said he was questioned by Special Branch officers yesterday.

He told the police officers that a print-out of the page with the offensive caricature was shown to his most senior editor before the newspaper was printed.

"He saw it and made no comments," he added.

This is contrary to the assertion of the newspaper, which today published a second apology (see below). In the apology which appeared in the newspaper's front-page, the management said it was "very sorry" for hurting the feelings of the Muslim community.

I did not act alone

However, it said that the editor-on-duty had committed the act "alone without the knowledge of his superiors or anyone else".

"The internal inquiry conducted also revealed that no one other than the editor-on-duty on the night in question had prior chance, or at all, of knowing his intention or his act to reproduce (though not legible) the offending caricature," it stressed.

If this is true, the sacked editor would have been made scapegoat by the newspaper management and forced to take the fall.

The Sarawak Tribune, the state's oldest newspaper, is owned by Sarawak Press Sdn Bhd, which is a company linked to the Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's family business interests.

The ex-editor related to malaysiakini what had happened on that fateful day - last Friday - and why he decided to include the caricature to accompany a French news agency AFP report on violent demonstrations across Asia following the publication of the caricatures which Muslims consider as blasphemous.

"It was a dry day (very few news reports) and when I picked on this AFP story, I thought at the time it (the caricature) could help readers understand better the reasons for the violent demonstrations," he said.

"At that time, I did not realise it would evoke such a reaction," he added.

He said the illustration, which is a composite of a number of the 12 caricatures of the Prophet deemed offensive, was downloaded from the Internet.

'I was numbed'

As is the usual practice when an editor assigned to do a page has completed his work, he said a print-out was done and shown to his superior, who approved the page before it was sent for printing.

In their front-page apology first carried on Sunday, and again today but in stronger tone, the paper said: 'Although the text accompanying the caricature was not legible as to give meaning to the caricature, the publisher and editorial committee feel the said extract should not have been published at all.'

It added: 'The editor-on-duty concerned had admitted and regretted his oversight and officially written an apology and at the same time, taken full and sole responsibility for the same which he did alone without the knowledge of his superiors or anyone else.'

On how he felt when told by his bosses the next day of the seriousness of the matter, the sacked editor said: "I was numbed and my heart beat stopped for a second."

Because of the controversy, especially the anger among many Muslims, he said he was naturally worried about his safety but added that he had not received any threats.

Sarawak Tribune group editor Toman Mamora and the paper's managing director and chairman of editorial board senator Idris Buang are in Putrajaya to meet with officials from the Internal Security Ministry this afternoon.

It is unclear what fate awaits the newspaper.

Ban the Tribune

Meanwhile, PKR Sarawak wants the Internal Security Ministry to revoke the licence of the Sarawak Tribune.

Its state chief Wan Zainal Abidin said in a statement today that the entire Sarawak Tribune management, including its managing director and group editor, should also resign to take responsibility for their provocative action.

Another opposition party, however, has taken a different stand on the controversy.

"The Sarawak Tribune has apologised for the 'oversight' in publishing one of the offensive Danish cartoons and the editor-on-duty has resigned in apology. With this assumption of responsibility, there is no need for any witch-hunt on the Sarawak Tribune case...," said Opposition Leader and DAP MP Lim Kit Siang.

"Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar had himself not gone as far as the Sarawak Tribune editor-on-duty to tender his resignation to make amends for a big blunder which he had committed," he added, referring to the claim that Noh had withheld the nationality of the woman in the nude-squat scandal.