Bill Clinton's former aides speak out on Lewinsky affair

In the midst of US presidential election campaign, Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, which had nearly brought him down in 1998, is going to be centre-stage again with his former aides discussing publicly for the first time his ''womanising'' in his political career.

In a new documentary about the former US President, which will be broadcast in Britain and America on February 20, his former colleagues will speak publicly of their shock and sense of betrayal over his affair with then White House intern Monica Lewinsky, 'The Daily Telegraph' online reported.

During the two-part documentary, Dick Morris, a former loyal adviser to Clinton, describes the moment then President telephoned him shortly before evidence of his affair with Lewinsky was to be made public.

Morris said: "Bill said to me: 'Ever since I got to the White House I have had to shut down my body'." He also said that Clinton told him he had been weak in the case of the 23- year-old intern and had done enough with her to be in trouble.

During the programme, Ken Gormley, a legal expert working in the White House, also recalled the sexual tension between the former president and Lewinsky. He said: "There were almost these sparks flying between them from the first moment when they saw each other."

Even political aides who had worked with Clinton on his initial bid for governorship in his home state of Arkansas, have explored his alleged womanising in his political career.

One campaign chief recalled dealing with "25 women a day" who came into the office looking for Clinton. Betsey Wright, his trusted political aide, also recounted how she eventually presented him with a list of girlfriends he had to deal with before he could stand as governor.

Marla Crider, who worked with him in Arkansas and had an affair with him, described women as being "literally mesmerised". She said: "It was like flies to honey."