Obama said he hoped the event would end up being a 'teachable moment, where all of us instead of pumping up the volume spend a little more time listening to each other' and improve race relations 'instead of flinging accusations'.

Obama did not apologise for his remark but repeated that he believed his choice of words was unfortunate. He reiterated his assertion that he believes police overreacted, but said Gates 'probably overreacted as well'.

Obama said earlier he was 'surprised by the controversy surrounding' his comments.

'I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home,' Obama told ABC's 'Nightline'.

When Obama waded into the story by answering a question about it during his news conference Wednesday night, he admitted that he 'may be a little biased' because Gates is a friend. 'I don't know all the facts,' he also conceded.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)