President Clinton, whose command of body language is famous among world leaders, yesterday explained away his handshake with Cuba's President Fidel Castro by saying "it just happened".
Mr Clinton's encounter with Mr Castro on Wednesday at the UN Millennium Summit was the first time the two men had spoken and was, apparently, the first handshake between the communist leader and a US president since the 1959 Cuban revolution.
The White House initially denied the handshake had taken place, then laboured to discount any significance in what officials insisted was a chance encounter.
Mr Clinton, one of the world's most photogenic leaders, gave his own explanation of the handshake which occurred at a photo call.
"It just happened. There were a whole lot of people in the room. I was talking to them and I turned around and he was standing there," he said. "He had apparently come up and waited . . . The encounter lasted just a few seconds. That's all that happened."