Renegade spy offers to return

THE RENEGADE former spy Richard Tomlinson confirmed yesterday that he is willing to return to Britain and face prosecution over charges that he leaked a top-secret list of alleged MI6 officers.

The 36-year-old former MI6 officer, accused of putting the list on the Internet, said: "I need to clear my name and face trial but I do not want to spend 11 months in Belmarsh prison for something I have not done. If I can get bail I will come back and stand trial against these outrageous accusations that have been made against me. They have no evidence."

Mr Tomlinson had already served six months in the top- security London jail for breaking the Official Secrets Act.

The Harrods tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed denied any part in publishing the list of alleged MI6 officers, after reports that he was being investigated. He said the only communications he had with Mr Tomlinson revolved around the crash that killed his son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales.