Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Thursday that she would not immediately sack Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who is the subject of a parliamentary inquiry into claims of secret donations to his party.

After Peters defended himself Wednesday night at a hearing of Parliament's powerful privileges committee, Clark issued a statement saying the proceedings provided no basis for her to remove him.

But she rebuked Peters, who has stood down from his ministerial responsibilities, pending the results of the inquiry, for his "often belligerent behaviour throughout this whole affair."

Peters aggressively rejected testimony to the committee by expatriate billionaire businessman Owen Glenn, who said Tuesday that the minister had personally asked for money and later thanked Glenn for a cheque for 100,000 New Zealand dollars (about 67,000 US dollars) that he donated in 2005.

Glenn flew from his home in Monaco armed with a file of telephone records, emails and an affidavit from a witness to testify to the committee, which is investigating a complaint that the leader of the New Zealand First party failed to declare the donation as obliged by law.

Peters said that he never discussed money with Glenn during a telephone conversation with the businessman on December 14, 2005. Glenn told the committee he had confirmed the donation during that call and received an email from Peters' attorney six minutes later giving details of the bank account where it was to be sent.

Peters told the committee he was the victim of a conspiracy.

"This is an attempt to undo the people's will, bring down a government, then govern alone," he said, adding that he wanted to be judged "by decent New Zealanders who understand justice."

Clark said she had discussed the committee's proceedings with senior colleagues who took part: "They advise that the issues before the privileges committee lie unresolved in the face of the conflicting evidence presented to it."

"Mr Peters' often belligerent behaviour throughout this whole affair makes him a difficult person to insist on due process for," Clark said. "Yet any reasonable person, putting aside any bias they may have towards Mr Peters, would agree that it was fair to do so."

The committee will meet again Tuesday, when Peters' attorney is expected to give evidence for the second time.

"Like all other observers, I await further developments," Clark said. (dpa)