Because NTT is controlled by the state, the Japanese government would effectively have to approve the move."We have received assurances from the Japanese government that the the ownership of IDC will be treated as a purely commercial matter," a C&W spokesman said. Meanwhile, C&W has indicated it has no intention of selling its stake. "C&W are really annoyed." C&W is hoping to invoke pre-emption rights, which it claims were negotiated at the time of the deal, allowing it to match any offer made for shares in IDC by an outside bidder. Airtouch, the US mobile phone operator which recently merged with Vodafone has a 10 per cent stake."Corporate Japan is genuinely determined that Japan will get control of IDC," one analyst said yesterday. However, NTT has trumped its offer and is now threatening to invoke new provisions in Japanese company law which can be used to force minority shareholders to sell their shares. C&W, which has a 17.7 per cent stake in IDC, has tabled an offer for IDC which values the company at Y62.4bn (pounds 328m). But NTT is thought to be trying to snatch control of IDC by making a higher offer. The decision on the deal rests with IDC's main shareholders, including the car group Toyotaand Itochu, the trading company, both of which have 17.7 per cent shareholdings.

C&W is currently trying to take control of IDC, a long-distance telecom operator which was set up by a consortium of companies, including C&W, in 1987. In a move that could escalate into a fully-fledged trade war, Mr Blair is understood to have complained to the Japanese government about moves by NTT, the state-owned telecom giant, to force C&W out of the Japanese market. With opposition to the law shared by both parties, Kenneth Starr could be the last to hold the post.. But he accepted his appointment, once nominated, and fiercely defended the performance of his office in doing its constitutional duty.The attorney-general, Janet Reno, has already recommended that the statute not be renewed. "No matter what the Congress decides, no matter what microsurgical precision is applied to fine-tune the statute, these problems will endure," he said yesterday.Mr Starr has long opposed the independent counsel statute.

The investigation into President Clinton has so far cost more than $40m. Alluding to his own problems in conducting the investigation into the President, Mr Starr said the post of independent prosecutor had myriad defects which limited its effectiveness and exposed the holder to political attack. The way it functioned in the four-year investigation into President Clinton - starting with the inquiry into the Whitewater land deal - provoked a storm of criticism, not least on grounds of expense. The law was passed in 1978 after the Watergate scandal in an attempt to prevent a President exerting political pressure on the judiciary. Congress must decide whether to renew what is known as the independent counsel statute when its term expires at the end of June. KENNETH STARR, the independent prosecutor whose investigation into the Monica Lewinsky affair almost ended Bill Clinton's presidency, said yesterday that the job was a constitutional aberration and should be abolished.