The former Venezuelan intelligence chief, Jesus Urdaneta, has accused senior government officials of corruption.

Mr Urdaneta resigned last month following differences with the foreign minister Jose Vicente Rangel.

He said he was passing to the authorities detalis of nearly fifty cases of alleged fraud.

In a BBC interview, the head of Venezuela's temporary congressional assembly, Luis Miquilena, denied the allegations made against him, saying Mr Urdaneta was motivated by bitterness over losing his job. Mr Urdaneta took part in a failed coup attempt by the president, Hugo Chavez, in 1992, but correspondents say the two men have since differed over Mr Chavez's political reforms.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service