JUNIOR Foreign Minister Dr Ronald Robinson yesterday denied that he met with US State Department officials and representatives of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as stated in yesterday's Observer lead story.

Robinson told the Observer that he never met with anyone from the State Department and that his encounter with a representative from the law firm was brief, as described by Jamaica Labour Party General Secretary Karl Samuda in his statement on the issue Tuesday.

"As regards media reports that a minister of Government met with State officials and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Dr Ronald Robinson, minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, while on a visit to Washington on November 20, 2009, had a brief social encounter with a representative of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips after having declined an invitation by Mr Harold Brady to attend a meeting at the State Department," Samuda said in his statement.

Yesterday, Robinson explained that his encounter with the Manatt representative was over drinks and lasted for about half-an-hour.