President Clinton's spokesman, Barry Toiv: "If we are coming to the end of this, that would be good"

Miss Lewinsky was giving evidence to the Grand Jury investigating her alleged relationship with President Clinton.

Although it was a private hearing, details of what she is believed to have said emerged in the American media on Friday.

The media was ready to pick up any leaks

The consensus in the American media is that in her six-and-a-half-hour testimony Miss Lewinsky did tell the Grand Jury that she had sexual relations with the President.

According to the New York Times, Miss Lewinsky gave details of "several sexual encounters" with Clinton in a small private study down a short hallway from the Oval Office.

She also told the panel that she and the president discussed ways to hide their affair, the New York Times said, citing "a lawyer familiar with her account".

Judy Smith, Miss Lewinsky's spokeswoman. "Truthfully, completely and honestly."

The Washington Post quoted a legal source as saying Miss Lewinsky told the Grand Jury that while the president never directly told her to lie about their relationship, they developed cover stories to hide their involvement.

According to the Los Angeles Times, sources familiar with her testimony said Lewinsky told the Grand Jury that she engaged in sexual intimacies with Clinton more than a dozen times over an 18-month period.

Judy Smith, Monica Lewinsky's spokeswoman, was asked lots of questions

The television news network, CNN, said that the sexual relations were of a limited type, as the president wanted them to be deniable.

CNN quoted sources saying he had made no direct efforts to get Miss Lewinsky to lie.

Meanwhile CBS television reported that special prosecutor Kenneth Starr may have heard all he needs from Miss Lewinsky, although sources said he reserved the right to call her back.

The BBC Washington correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says that lawyers representing witnesses are allowed to brief on evidence and they do so to selected organisations.

They also share information among themselves and leaks occur in that network as well.

The prosecutor's office was caught recently briefing reporters in advance of testimony to get round the prohibition on them revealing the secrets of the Grand Jury room.