A diplomat criticised for his part in the Arms to Africa affair has been saved from blame - by a bulky fax machine.

Peter Penfold, 54, from Abingdon, had been accused of keeping the Government in the dark after a military coup in Sierra Leone in 1997.

But an inquiry heard Mr Penfold was unable to use a specialist fax machine delivered so he could keep in contact with Whitehall after the coup - because it was too big to get into his hotel room.

A Parliamentary committee reported that, following the coup, Mr Penfold was forced into exile alongside the country's deposed President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. He moved to a temporary base at the Camayenne Hotel in Conakry, Guinea but had no way of transmitting messages back to London without them being intercepted by rebel agents.

A fax machine, complete with a security cabinet, decoding material and a bundle of classified documents was flown out to him - but were too big to fit through his hotel.

The MPs report states that "the whole unit including cabinet was contained within packing cases which, on arrival, Mr Penfold assessed as being incapable of fitting through his hotel door in Conakry.

"He therefore left it at the airport, and it was subsequently returned to the UK."

The farcical episode did not end there. The report also revealed that the Foreign Office had also provided a satellite telephone - but Mr Penfold and his staff were unable to get it to work properly and had to buy a replacement locally. Mr Penfold was rebuked in an independent inquiry last year for his part in encouraging military consultants Sandline International to ship weapons to President Kabbah ahead of a counter-coup.

Just 24 hours later, he was praised by Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, who said he had done a 'superb job' and dismissed the row as a 'hoo-ha'.

He added that Mr Penfold had helped restore the country's elected leader to power - something which Mr Penfold is hero-worshipped for in Sierra Leone.

Mr Penfold was unavailable for comment today.

Coalition deal set to be signed LEADERS TO SIGN HISTORIC COALITION DEAL THE historic coalition deal between Labour and the Liberal Democrats to govern Scotland was due be signed in Edinburgh today.

The agreement has been approved by MSPs from both parties, with the Lib Dems' Scottish executive finally endorsing the deal.

But Lib Dem leader Jim Wallace, who will become Deputy First Minister, faced dissenting voices from his party and accusations from the Scottish National Party that he had sold out.

Story date: Friday 14 May

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