BBC Correspondent Peter Biles explains the growing pressure on Clinton (2'28")

Pressure is intensifying on President Clinton to explain his relationship with former White House aide Monica Lewinsky.

A private moment in a public place

The American network ABC has reported that a witness caught the President and Miss Lewinsky in an intimate encounter in a private area of the White House in the spring of 1996.

Bill Clinton is also said to have admitted to friends that he was "emotionally close" to Miss Lewinsky, 24, and has admitted that in retrospect this could have appeared "odd".

Meanwhile, Miss Lewinsky's lawyer, William Ginsburg, has said she is willing to give a complete account of her relationship with the president if she is given immunity from prosecution.

Kenneth Starr: long-term investigator of Clinton

Mr Ginsburg has been negotiating with the independent prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, over immunity for Miss Lewinsky.

Mr Starr is trying to establish if Miss Lewinsky had an affair with Mr Clinton and whether or not he and confidant Vernon Jordan encouraged her to lie about it under oath.

Mr Ginsburg said Miss Lewinsky would cooperate fully with Mr Starr if she were granted full immunity from prosecution.

He declined to say whether Miss Lewinsky had had a sexual affair with the president. "I cannot broach the attorney-client privilege," he told NBC's Meet the Press.

He said his client stood behind an affidavit in which she denied a sexual relationship with Mr Clinton. Some reports say she is willing to change that story in exchange for immunity.

Monica Lewinsky's lawyer William Ginsburg

Mr Ginsburg said no further progress could be made without a deal. "We are frozen in place because we are in jeopardy as long as there is a threat of criminal prosecution," he said.

He said he hoped to continue negotiations with Mr Starr.

Mr Ginsburg also said that Miss Lewinsky had consented to a search of her apartment on Thursday requested by Mr Starr.

Among items taken were her computer, some trouser suits and dresses and a book of poetry signed by Mr Clinton with an innocuous message.

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