Vancouver: The defence in the Air India trial pressed hard for a key witness to remember the exact words Ripudaman Singh Malik used when he allegedly confided in her his involvement in the bombing of the plane, saying she had given different versions to the police about it.

The woman, who cannot be named under court order as she is under the witness protection programme, had earlier testified that Malik had told her "we had Air India crash".

Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri are accused of planning the 1985 Kanishka bombing that killed 329 people, along with a bombing in Japan that killed two baggage handlers.

Malik's lawyer David Crossin said the witness worded the alleged confession in different ways in various police interviews in 1998.

"You've told us you remember clearly that Malik said, 'we had Air India crash,'" said Crossin.

The witness replied, "I told (a police officer) in summary what Malik said to me way back in May of 1996. I'm not repeating word for word what happened.

"I couldn't understand, ever, what was important about it, I don't have a tape-recorded conversation."

When repeatedly questioned by police about the comment, she told the court, "I kept thinking, are they thinking I taped it, are they thinking I was spying on Malik?"

The defence has been trying to portray the witness as an embittered employee angry at being kicked out of a job by Malik, for whose daycare centre she worked from 1992 to 1997. However, she claims that they were in love.

The witness had also told the court that Malik and his groups supported families of those who killed former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and raised money for a failed attempt to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) created a stir by telling the court that it could no longer properly protect the witness because of media coverage of the course and pleaded for a ban on further publication on her testimony until she was finished.

However, Justice Ian Bruce Josephson denied the request, saying such a drastic measure was not necessary. But he encouraged the prosecution to consider contempt of court charges against the media outlets that broke the ban. Jeff Hayes, a lawyer for the force, said the RCMP was concerned after three media outlets published material the court believes could identify the woman.

The most recent violation involved publication of the woman's first name in an Indo-Canadian newspaper, 'Apna Roots', that is aimed at the Sikh community. "The RCMP's ability to protect this witness and her security has been impaired," Hayes said, submitting to the court a print-out of the Canwest Global website, showing a sketch of the witness.

The witness had testified she received several death threats and her family had been threatened because of what she knows about the bombings.

Rupinder Hayer Bains, editor and publisher of the biweekly 'Apna Roots', appeared before the court and apologised for the error.

PTI