New York, Feb 23 : The head of America's oldest civil rights group has urged a boycott of the New York Post for publishing a cartoon which he said is an invitation to assassinate President Barack Obama.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) President and CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous, has given the boycott call, and demanded the removal of its editor-in-chief Col Allan.

The New York Post's decision to publish the cartoon "picks off the scabs of all the racial wounds," Jealous said, and is "an invitation to assassination."

Jealous said the paper's editor-in-chief, Col Allan, and cartoonist Sean Delonas should get the boot, the Daily News reported.

His comments came on the heels of a protest outside the newspaper's Manhattan office on Friday during which filmmaker Spike Lee called on celebrities to support the boycott.

The cartoon shows the bullet-riddled body of a chimpanzee with two cops standing nearby. One says, "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Following Thursday''s initial protests, the paper issued a lame apology on its Web site and claimed the cartoon was intended to criticize an "ineptly written" federal economic stimulus bill.

Jealous and other NAACP leaders said the paper must respond with "serious disciplinary action." If not, they vowed to urge organizations across the country to join in the boycott. (ANI)