Pakistan Monday renewed condemnation to what it called the publication of a "highly derogatory cartoon" about Pakistan in a US daily and demanded an inquiry to know the motives behind the move.

"Pakistan has asked for an inquiry to be conducted and the US administration has also expressed its displeasure over its publication and they are issuing an advisory to this effect," Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told a weekly press briefing in Islamabad.

The Washington Times last week published a cartoon showing a dog as Pakistan with a US soldier, who has keeps his right hand on the dog while appreciating the arrest of a senior al-Qaeda member Abu Faraj.

"Good boy! Now let's go find bin Laden," the US soldier tells the dog, who holds Faraj in his mouth.

Faraj was apprehended last week in the tribal area by the Pakistani intelligence agencies. He was believed to be al-Qaeda's No.3 and know the hideouts of the terrorist group's leader bin Laden.

"Pakistan has condemned the publication of this cartoon in strongest possible term. We have also asked for an inquiry to be conducted because this cartoon, the cartoonist and those who allowed the publication have not done any service to the forces of moderation," Jilani said.

"They have committed a kind of insult not only to the American administration but also to the American public," the spokesman noted.

He added the American public and administration have time and again applauded the vital role that Pakistan has been playing in its fight against international terrorism.