Berlin - Allegations that Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer, who has fathered a child out of wedlock, might again be seeing the mother went into print Friday in daily newspapers in the state capital, Munich.

The premier, 59, has only said "no comment" this week to reporters every time he was asked about the rumours. The alleged liaison was initially referred to in a gossipy German weekly magazine, Bunte,

Seehofer publicly confirmed the birth of a daughter nearly two years ago when he was Germany's agriculture minister, but stressed that he and his wife had reconciled after his affair with the woman.

Some of his supporters suggested at the time that the birth may have been made public then in an attempt to obstruct Seehofer's rise in 2008 to the premiership of the largely Catholic southern state, where socially conservative voters value marital fidelity.

Bunte's issue this week claimed that Seehofer had been meeting again with the woman. On Friday, Munich dailies and some national dailies picked up the story, and a leftist Berlin newspaper, Taz, posed the question as to whether another baby was on the way.

This brought a rebuke from the website of the mass-circulation daily, Bild, which argued that TAZ had started a rumour without proof.

The Bild website also reported a debate within the Bavaria-only party which Seehofer leads, the Christian Social Union (CSU), about the propriety of any relations between Seehofer and the woman.

One woman supporter was quoted in the newspaper saying it was only right that Seehofer should regularly visit the daughter and her mother, whereas a woman critic reportedly said a premier and a party leader could not "lead a double life."

The last major joint public appearance by Seehofer, his wife Karin and their three adult children was at a New Year's reception in Munich.(dpa)