State governor held in US probe

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested, accused of trying to trade the Senate seat left vacant by US President-elect Barack Obama.

Mr Blagojevich, as governor, has sole authority to select a successor to Mr Obama as junior Illinois senator.

Mr Blagojevich has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing

FBI investigators said telephone intercepts showed he was trying to sell or trade the seat for personal benefit.

There has been no official word from Mr Blagojevich's office, although he has denied previous corruption allegations.

The US Attorney's Office released a 76-page FBI affidavit detailing the charges against Mr Blagojevich, which includes transcripts of his telephone conversations intercepted by court-authorised wiretaps over the last month.

In the conversations, the Democratic governor allegedly discussed offering Mr Obama's senate seat in return for getting a well-paid position at a non-profit organisation or a group affiliated with trades unions, according to the affidavit.

In the transcripts, on 3 November Mr Blagojevich said the seat was "[expletive] valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."

The day after the election, according to the affidavit, Mr Blagojevich was recorded as saying: "I've got this thing and it's [expletive] golden, and uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing."

He also allegedly talked about getting his wife Patti placed on a corporate board.

'For sale'

Mr Blagojevich has also been charged with illegally threatening to block state aid to the company that owns the Chicago Tribune.

Mr Blagojevich allegedly demanded that the company fire members of the newspaper's editorial board in return for financial assistance in the sale of Wrigley Field, a Chicago sports stadium.

The governor's chief of staff, John Harris, has also been arrested.

"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.

"They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator," he added.

Mr Fitzgerald stressed at a later news conference that there were no allegations in the case against Mr Obama or his transition team.

Mr Fitzgerald has been involved in a number of high-profile prosecutions in recent years.

He led the case against the former vice-presidential chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, as well as heading up the investigation into media tycoon Conrad Black.

The prosecutor was also involved in the corruption trial of Mr Blagojevich's predecessor as Illinois governor, George Ryan