Television pictures of US President Bush in his vest which sparked a rash of security stories in the news media were actually shot by mistake by an Irish Government film crew, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said.

The man accused of being al-Qaida’s operations chief in South-east Asia was planning an attack on a summit in October attended by US President Bush when he was arrested, officials said today.

THE implications of the change of tone in the outpourings of the usually defiant 'P O'Neill' will be carefully considered in the coming days.