Clinton's college flame speaks out

Tamara Eccles-Williams, 45, from Cheshire, dated Mr Clinton when he was a Rhodes Scholar at University College in 1969.

The lovestruck future US president asked her out after seeing her on the stairs of his student hall but she dumped him three months later.

She said he was very nice and had never shown himself to be a womaniser.

Ms Eccles-Williams said she hoped he "rides the storm".

Mr Clinton faced intensifying pressure this week over claims he and a friend advised 24-year-old Monica Lewinsky to deny on oath an 18-month affair with the President.

Tuesday will be a key day for Clinton's hopes of survival - Miss Lewinsky is then reportedly scheduled to go before a grand jury as Mr Clinton's delivers his annual State of the Union address, and Mrs Clinton is due to go on TV to defend her husband.

Some advisers have urged the president - who denies a sexual affair with her or any attempt to obstruct justice - to address the matter in his speech but his aides say there are no plans at this point to do so.

Film was released on Sunday of Mr Clinton greeting Miss Lewinsky warmly at the front of a crowd of supporters after his re-election in November.

Their contact is brief, as a beaming Miss Lewinsky introduces him to other White House staff to add their congratulations.

The most damaging accusation facing the president is the claim by Miss Lewinsky, said to be caught on secretly-recorded tape, that Mr Clinton and his friend, Vernon Jordan, advised her to deny in a sworn statement that she had a sexual relationship with the president.

Her lawyer, William Ginsburg, pledged she would "absolutely, unequivocally" tell the full story if she got immunity from perjury charges.

He declined again to say whether she had a sexual affair with the president, telling NBC he could not broach attorney-client privilege.

He said his client stood by a sworn affidavit in which she denied a sexual relationship with Mr Clinton. Mr Ginsburg is seeking a deal with Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel probing the president's affairs, to grant immunity for Miss Lewinsky from perjury charges if the tapes are at odds with her sworn statement.

Mr Starr is apparently reluctant to grant protection until he is sure what she is willing to say.

Mr Ginsburg said his client would not hold anything back if granted immunity: "We are dying to tell our story. We are frozen in place because we are in jeopardy as long as there is a threat of criminal prosecution."

Mr Ginsburg also confirmed Mr Starr's investigators had conducted, with her agreement, a search of her Washington flat and seized trinkets, clothing and her computer.

They also took a book of poetry, formally signed "Best Wishes" from President Bill Clinton.

Meanwhile, Mr Clinton's supporters rallied to defend him.

Democratic consultant James Carville told NBC there had been "wiring people up in hotels, feeding them whisky and trying to get them to talk ... This is a scuzzy investigation and I guarantee that when the facts come out people will be repulsed by this".

Flatly denying a presidential affair, he said Mr Clinton's denials ruled out "any kind of sex" with Miss Lewinsky. Mr Carville, the president's former political advisor, added: "There's going to be a war. The friends of the president are disgusted by these kinds of tactics. We're going to fight and fight very hard."

He predicted Mr Clinton would survive the crisis.

He said First Lady Hillary Clinton was in a "fighting mood" and marshalling old friends and advisers in defence of her husband.

In a signal of what could be the defence's line, the Washington Post reported today that Mr Clinton had acknowledged to friends he became emotionally close to Miss Lewinsky, but insisted the relationship was never sexual.

Sources suggested the friendship grew from their shared turbulent upbringings, Miss Lewinsky having divorced parents and Mr Clinton growing up with an adoptive father who was both alcoholic and abusive.

Mr Clinton's approval rating has dropped 15 points, according to an NBC poll out today, which showed nearly 70% of Americans believe he has been less than honest in responding to the allegations.

Nearly half of Americans said they would favour impeachment if he did urge Miss Lewinsky to lie under oath, according to a new Newsweek poll.

Though far more potentially damaging, the scandal stems from a sexual harassment suit filed by Paula Jones, who has accused Mr Clinton of exposing himself to her in 1991 when he was Arkansas governor and she a state employee. Miss Jones's lawyers sought evidence from Miss Lewinsky to help establish a pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr Clinton.

Meanwhile, UK Defence minister Dr John Reid said that any fears the US might encourage Britain to join in premature action in the Gulf to deflect attention from Mr Clinton's private life were unfounded.

The Armed Forces Minister dismissed suggestions that Britain's role in the Gulf would be affected by the US domestic crisis, asserting that any action in the Gulf would be motivated purely by the threat posed by the Iraqi leader.

"I know that there's been a great deal of speculation, some of it very lurid, and part of that is that somehow this will lead to some macho response.

"I think this is exaggerated, as previous suggestions were, that either the British or the American government were being macho in the Gulf for its own sake," Dr Reid told GMTV's Sunday programme.

Nationalist SDLP leader Jon Hume told Sky's Sunday with Adam Boulton he did not know what effect Mr Clinton's problems might have on the Northern Ireland peace process.

He said he did not want to speculate: "I welcome the very powerful assistance from President Clinton and the US in our peace process. I want that to continue."

During his presidency, Mr Clinton had been "totally committed to the peace process".

There was a "massive" amount of goodwill in the US for the peace process, with 44 million people there of Irish descent, from both sides, Mr Hume added.

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