Star cleared of Afghan sex romp

2008-06-04 12:36

Sydney - Australia's military chief on Wednesday cleared entertainer Tania Zaetta of allegations she had sex with soldiers in war-torn Afghanistan and said he would personally apologise to her.

Zaetta, who has a budding Bollywood career, was named in a defence briefing note as having slept with elite special forces soldiers while on a concert tour at a military base in the Taliban stronghold of Uruzgan in April.

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told a parliamentary committee in Canberra the claim was baseless.

"There was no substance to the allegations, and I will conclude the matter with a letter to the person in question," he said.

"I will obviously apologise and express my deep regret about any hurt she has suffered."

Zaetta, 37, had denied the allegations which she described as "complete made-up lies".

Embarrassing leak

"(And) apart from being hurtful, it's damaging to a woman's career, to her reputation and I wish someone had come and asked me before there had been any documentation," she told Australian television last month.

The Australian Defence Force has previously apologised to the London-based actress and singer over the embarrassing leak but had until now refused to deny the claims, saying the scandal was the subject of an investigation.

The leaked note, known as a "hot issues brief", was prepared for Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and the Defence Department has said it will investigate how it ended up in the hands of a journalist.

Zaetta, who is of Australian and Italian heritage, rose to prominence here as a host of game show Who Dares Wins, which is also the motto of the elite SAS special forces troops serving in Afghanistan.

In recent years, she has featured in a number of Bollywood productions, including a recent Charlie's Angels-style hit, Mr Black, Mr White.

- AFP