THE Canadian government apologised yesterday to the former prime minister, Mr Brian Mulroney, after reaching an out of court settlement in a libel suit he filed after being accused of taking bribes.
"The government of Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police regret any damage suffered by Mr Mulroney and his family and fully apologise to them," the government said in a statement read by Mr Mulroney's lawyer, Mr Gerald Tremblay.
The public apology was part of a settlement made on Sunday in the case, which was due before the courts yesterday.
Mr Mulroney was seeking 50 million Canadian dollars (£22 million) in damages for a letter from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police suggesting that he took bribes in connection with a 1988 Air Canada purchase of 34 Airbus A320s.
The settlement averts who would have been a highly publicised, unprecedented trial.
The case centred on a request from the RCMP in September 1995 to the Swiss authorities, seeking access to information about deposits made into two separate Swiss bank accounts.
The request, which was later leaked to the Financial Post newspaper, made it clear that the police were investigating Mr Mulroney for possibly receiving illegal kickbacks in one of Canada's biggest civil aviation deals.