21feb02

OPPOSITION Leader Simon Crean yesterday withdrew his claims that Prime Minister John Howard lied over who really sank the boat at the centre of the children overboard affair.

Mr Crean said politicians had a duty to immediately correct the public record when their public statements were wrong or likely to mislead.

"Consequently I now use this earliest available opportunity to withdraw my statement against the Prime Minister," Mr Crean said in a statement.

He said his claim was based on an ABC radio report yesterday that referred to testimony from Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty to a Senate estimates committee.

That related to the AFP belief that the vessel had been sabotaged by asylum-seekers on board.

Mr Howard and Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock have both accused the asylum-seekers of deliberately sinking the boat so they would be picked up by the warship HMAS Adelaide and taken to Australia.

But in the estimates hearing yesterday, Mr Keelty appeared to say it was Indonesian crew members who were responsible.

In a clarifying statement, Mr Keelty said an impression might have been given from one answer to the committee that the AFP believed the boat was sunk by crew members.

Mr Keelty said the AFP's position was that the boat was sabotaged by its passengers, not the crew and the bulk of his evidence to the committee was to that effect.

AAP