Saturday, November 5 2005 10:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh today (Nov 05, 2005) rejected demands for his resignation in the wake of a UN report naming him as a beneficiary in Iraqi oil pay-offs and contested its author Paul Volcker's statement that he was asked to respond on allegations against him.

"Why should I? The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can't decide who the Foreign Minister of India will be," he told sources ruling out the possibility of his resignation.

Asked whether he thought that after a month he would still be the External Affairs Minister, he said it was the Prime Minister's prerogative but he was confident that he would continue as Foreign Minister.

He said, not for a moment the thought of resignation crossed his mind ever since the controversy broke a week ago and claimed that he enjoyed the full confidence of both Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"I am told that I am doing a good job so do you expect me to go to the Prime Minister and say that since I am doing a good job I am putting in my papers," he said.

Asked what his reaction would be if his portfolio was changed in a reshuffle, he said, "he was in public life and if you can't take the heat in the kitchen then you go out".

Singh said he had a lot of other interests like reading and writing. He enjoyed life, has a good family and a circle of friends.

Singh said the allegations against him and the Congress party were 'outrageous' and that there was no involvement of either in any oil deal that had allegedly taken place during Saddam Hussein's regime during the UN applied sanctions.