The White House has strenuously denied a report in the Guardian newspaper that President Clinton refused two requests from the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, to put pressure on the Irish Government and Sinn Fein over the RUC name change.
The White House spokesman for the National Security Council, which advises Mr Clinton on Northern matters, said: "The story is a complete fabrication and shows the utter disregard that the Guardian has for normal standards of journalism." The article, he went on, "reflects neither the substance nor the tone" of the two leaders' work together.
A Downing Street spokesman also strongly denied the report and said "the story is from top to bottom wrong".
Sources in Washington have told The Irish Times that in the May 10th phone call, Mr Blair "sounded out" Mr Clinton on the problems over the dropping of the RUC title but they were unable to say how Mr Clinton responded.
Other sources are adamant that Mr Blair made no request to Mr Clinton to intervene with the Irish Government or Sinn Fein on the RUC question, but that they did talk about the problems facing the UUP over reform of policing.