Grave disclosure rocks US

Charges that a number of burial plots in Arlington National Cemetery, the last resting place of US military heroes, were allocated to Democratic Party donors were denied yesterday. But the very suggestion could further damage President Clinton's already flawed reputation.

Among the things that Americans hold sacred are the Constitution, the flag, Abraham Lincoln and the Arlington National Cemetery. Of the many accusations made against President Clinton concerning his fund-raising activities for the Democratic Party - paid- for invitations to White House coffee mornings, funds solicited from White House phones, trips on Air Force One - it was the revelation that overnight stays in the Lincoln bedroom at the White House were effectively "for sale" to big party donors that inflamed the American public most.

Now though, B&B in the Lincoln bedroom has a competitor for worst-judged donor-incentive. According to an article in the next issue of Insight magazine, a Washington-based publication that has strong ties with the military, big donors were able to win posthumous honour for themselves in the form of a burial at the cemetery. When word escaped of the revelations, many American radio talk shows were inundated with people calling in to protest.