Jakarta – Indonesia has described as "tasteless" a caricature in an Australian newspaper depicting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a dog.

The publication of the cartoon in the Australian daily followed a similar drawing in an Indonesian daily portraying Prime Minister John Howard and his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as copulating dingoes.

The cartoon war comes amid tensions between Jakarta and Canberra over Australia's decision to grant refugee visas to 42 asylum-seekers from Indonesia's restive Papua province.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said Yudhoyono had not seen the Australian caricature but the president "laughed" when told of the depiction.

"It's in poor taste. Sometimes the media, both in Indonesia and other countries, resort to poor taste, which actually demonstrates the level of their quality," Mallarangeng told AFP.

The Australian caricature cartoon, drawn by award-winning cartoonist Bill Leak, shows Yudhoyono as a tail-wagging dog mounting a startled-looking Papua dog and saying "don't take this the wrong way". The caption under the cartoon reads "no offence intended".

On Monday Indonesian tabloid Rakyat Merdeka ran a front-page caricature showing Howard being mounted on Downer with the prime minister saying: "I want Papua!! Alex! Try to make it happen." Howard dismissed the Indonesian cartoon, although Downer described it as grotesque and "way below standards of public taste".

Downer responded to the latest cartoon by saying the Australian government in no way condoned it.

"Editors have responsibility to be mindful of the consequences of what they publish, particularly when they knowingly publish material that is likely to be found offensive in some quarters," Downer said in a statement.

Indonesia has been stung by the decision of Australia's immigration department to issue three-year visas to the group of Papuans, including prominent separatists and their families, who arrived by boat in northern Australia in January.

In response, Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Canberra, postponed an agreement on jointly fighting bird flu, and angry Indonesians have protested outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Since the decision, Howard has repeatedly stated his support for Indonesian sovereignty over Papua, a former Dutch colony taken over by Jakarta in the 1960s.