David Shayler: No regrets

Mr Shayler, freed last week in Paris after a bid to extradite him to the UK collapsed, told BBC Two's Newsnight that following discussions with his lawyer, there would be no fresh allegations for the time being.

"We want to talk to the government about a negotiated settlement," he said in his first television interview since being released.

The ex-MI5 officer said his "first demand" would be immunity from prosecution if he returned to Britain.

"I'm not an unreasonable person"

"But I do want to find some way of getting what I still have to say - because there's many more things to talk about still - to people who can react to these things, whether that is the Parliamentary (Intelligence and Security) Committee, or whether that's the government, and hopefully in some form the media as well."

Mr Shayler said if he wrote a book he would be prepared to have it vetted by the security services, provided he was given a clear definition of the rules by which it was censored.

"I'm not an unreasonable person," he said.

Official Secrets Act

Mr Shayler would face charges under the Official Secrets Act if he returned to the UK now.

He is wanted in connection with a series of claims that he has made about alleged illegal activities and incompetence by the secret services.

Colonel Gaddafi: Alleged MI6 target

The government has denied his allegation that agents from the UK's foreign intelligence service, MI6, tried to organise the assassination of the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Mr Shayler was arrested in Paris on an extradition warrant in August. But last week a Paris judge ruled that the motivation behind Mr Shayler's actions was political and therefore under French law he could not be extradited.

He is currently staying in a Paris hotel as a guest of the newspaper which initially published his allegations.

More determined to continue

Mr Shayler insisted he did not regret his actions despite spending three months in a French jail waiting for his extradition hearing.

Mr Shayler's brothers greet him on his extradition victory

"I would do the whole thing again," he said.

"It's increased my determination to see through what I've started."