The Parliamentary Ombudsman also stated that, "it is not possible to make decisions on issues concerning confidentiality until the release of a document is requested.

A highly unusual unauthorized release of a document that sums up a Federal examination of Citicorp's mortgage business paints a critical picture of the way that subsidiary is run.

Critics have expressed most concern over a line in the agreement that seems to give Mr. Giuliani the right to block the release of a document in which he has a "personal interest."

It's as much questionable as the statement that the release of a document and letting media and journalists compete with their work on them "could never revolutionise the current media landscape".

A few weeks before hurricane season, the Commerce Department blocked the release of a document describing possible links between global warming and hurricanes, according to a news article today in the journal Nature.

It was only in October 1999, that President Bill Clinton ordered the release of a document admitting that US intelligence agents played a role in the deaths of Americans.

But Mr. Bush was reminded of the costs of his White House connection on Thursday with the release of a document written by Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter, the former White House national security adviser.

Questions about the legality and propriety of the connections between Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d and the Wedtech Corporation became more pointed last week with the release of a document suggesting that Mr. Meese has misrepresented his personal financial holdings.