Instead, Mr Clinton's lawyers filed a motion to block the testimony White House counsel based on the attorney-client privilege.

Both aides, communications adviser Sidney Blumenthal and White House counsel Bruce Lindsey, should be protected by executive privilege had been subpoened to testify in the investigation surrounding Mr Clinton's alleged affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Mr Clinton had argued the aides should not have to testify because his conversations with them were protected under executive privilege, which protects private conversations between presidents and their staff.

Kenneth Starr: "I'd love to see it move forward."

But last month a federal judge rejected his claim, saying that the special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's criminal investigation and the public's "need to know" outweighed Mr Clinton's claim for privacy. On Monday Mr Clinton's lawyers filed papers saying they would not appeal the judgement.

The decision was welcomed by Mr Starr who is investigating the allegations.

He said: "I welcome any movement in the direction of our getting more information sooner rather than later.

"We're not getting the information. We're not getting the facts. I'd love to see it move forward as quickly as possible."

The papers filed by Mr Clinton's lawyers also asked for Mr Starr's request for a quick ruling from the Supreme Court on executive privilege to be rejected.

It would have been the court's first ruling on the issue since former President Richard Nixon lost his claim before the court 24 years ago, in a case that led to his resignation.

'We won'

Monica Lewinsky: ordered to supply fingerprints and voice samples

White House counsel Charles Ruff tried to save face for the Clinton camp. He said that the judge's ruling protected the principle of executive privilege even though it required Mr Blumenthal to testify.

He said: "We fought for the principle of executive privilege. We won the principle of executive privilege. Mr Blumenthal will now testify fully and completely."

Meanwhile, Mr Starr has ordered Monica Lewinsky to provide voice and handwriting samples and fingerprints.