Men deny breaking secrecy law in Bush's TV station bomb plan leak

London: Two British men yesterday denied breaking secrecy laws by leaking a document which a newspaper claims showed US President George W. Bush wanted to bomb Arabic television station Al Jazeera.

Britain's government has denied the memo of a conversation between Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair included any suggestion of bombing the Qatar-based broadcaster, whose coverage of the insurgency in Iraq has angered US officials.

Civil servant David Keogh, 49, and 42-year-old Leo O'Connor, who worked as a researcher for a parliament member, face charges under Britain's Official Secrets Act for leaking the memo.

At London's Old Bailey criminal court, Keogh pleaded not guilty to two counts of making a damaging disclosure and O'Connor pleaded not guilty to one count of the same charge.

Idea

Both men were released on bail. Their trial is expected to start on October 9 and last up to three weeks. Daily Mirror newspaper said the memo came from Blair's Downing Street office and related to a conversation between the two leaders at the White House on April 16, 2004. In its report last November, Mirror quoted an unnamed government official as suggesting Bush's threat was a joke, but cited another unidentified source saying Bush was serious.

It said Blair talked Bush out of the idea.

The White House has described the Mirror report as "outlandish" and Blair's spokesman said in January that "the memo does not refer to bombing the Al Jazeera station in Qatar".

The Mirror journalist who broke the story has suggested Bush may have used another military term in the discussion.