THE DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, has accused the Sunday World of gutter journalism and has defended the party press officer, Mr Sammy Wilson, after the newspaper printed nude holiday photographs of him and a woman friend.
Mr Wilson, a former Belfast lord mayor, claimed the photographs, spread over seven pages, were stolen and has complained to the police.
The Sunday World's Northern editor, Mr Jim McDowell, has defended the newspaper's action and denied Mr Wilson's claims. "The first I was aware of any claim, any allegation that they were stolen, was whenever the police from Mountpottinger station rang me on Sunday. If they were stolen, why did Mr Wilson not go to the police earlier?"
Mr McDowell said the negatives were left into his office anonymously. "I don't know where they came from or who they came from."
He said there was a journalistic justification for the story and most people regarded it as a bit of a laugh.
Said Mr Wilson "I had some of the photos sitting on my bookcase and my friend had some under the bed in her house. But we don't know how the Sunday World got their hands on them.
He admitted the publication of the photographs had caused embarrassment to him and his party, especially with the forthcoming elections. He is a candidate in east Belfast.
"I have had many party members offering me their support but equally I am sure some are embarrassed and angry. I feel sorry about that. There is nothing immoral about those photos, nothing suggestive about them at all.
"They were innocent shots, taken in a private place. There is no incongruity between my public and private stance and publication does not, therefore, serve public purpose. I hope the electorate will judge me on the work I have done for my constituents."
Dr Paisley said the photographs were published through the "unhealthy combination of a gutter newspaper and a thief" were taken in a remote where no onlooker was likely to be shocked or offended.
"What a man does in his private life, whether I agree with it or not, is a matter entirely for himself and his final accountability to his maker, as long as it does not militate against standards of public decency or views he promotes in his public life", said Dr Paisley.