11.   An order to expel two foreign journalists was not a vindictive move by the government but simply a police matter involving national security, the interior minister said Monday.

12.   Buckingham Palace gave no comment, saying it was a police matter.

13.   But he refused to give details, saying it was a police matter.

14.   But Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon told reporters that the order to expel the two journalists was not a vindictive move by the government but simply a police matter.

15.   He said it was up to the judiciary to decide when they would be charged, and it was a police matter if they had been moved.

16.   He spoke at the end of a meeting of ministers responsible for police matters from eastern and central African nations.

17.   Jockey Club spokesman John Maxse said Wednesday that the man arrested was not licensed by the Jockey Club and, therefore, it was a police matter.

18.   The BBC said it handed over surveillance tapes to the authorities, but had no other comment, saying the investigation was a police matter.

19.   The Internal Affairs Ministry in Lisbon, which oversees police matters, confirmed the men were detained because of fake identity documents but could provide no further information.

20.   They have demanded a judicial inquiry into the affair, but Chretien has rejected those appeals and insists he did not intervene in police matters during the APEC summit.