The British government yesterday declined to comment on the claim by a former US ambassador to London that the White House leaked British intelligence secrets to the IRA. Mr Raymond Seitz, who was US ambassador to Britain between 1991 and 1994, made the allegation in extracts from his memoirs, published in the Sunday Telegraph. Asked about the claim, the press spokesman for the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said: "I speak for the government that was elected on May 1st".
Apparently reflecting a reluctance by Mr Blair to be sidetracked by claims of what might have happened several years ago, the spokesman added: "I just think people should stop writing books."
But an unnamed former Conservative minister, who served in the Northern Ireland Office, was quoted in yesterday's editions of the Daily Telegraph as backing Mr Seitz's claim.
"We never gave [the US administration] any information that would put lives of security personnel at risk because we knew there was a link between the White House and Sinn Fein-IRA," he said.
Mr Seitz, who is now retired and living in Britain, was ambassador in 1994, when Britain reacted angrily to the granting of a US visa to Mr Gerry Adams.
He said that during this row "London even stopped passing sensitive intelligence to the White House because it often seemed to find its way to the IRA".
Mr Seitz also accused President Clinton of letting his policy be dictated by an Irish-American lobby and described the current US ambassador to Ireland, Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, as "a naive pro-IRA apologist" who exerted strong influence on Mr Clinton.
Mr Tom King, who was Mrs Margaret Thatcher's Northern Secretary between 1985 and 1989, commented: "I think more recently there may have been . . . one or two personnel in the White House who may have been very close to Sinn Fein. That may have led to some problems."
In his memoirs, Mr Seitz called President Clinton's decision to grant Mr Adams a visa "either naive or opportunistic".
"It had debased America's long-established policy on terrorism as well as the value of relations with the United Kingdom," he wrote.
Former US congressman Mr Bruce Morrison has accused Mr Seitz of "trying to rewrite the historical record".
"He is acting like someone whose advice wasn't taken, and trying to tear down those whose advice was taken," Mr Morrison told BBC radio.
Mr Seitz's book was condemned by Mr Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein's chief negotiator at the Stormont talks, as "a very negative contribution" at a crucial time for the future of Ireland.