The International Olympic Committee (IOC) showed on Saturday their zero tolerance toward any improper behavior tainting the image of the Olympic Movement by suspending the Bulgarian member Ivan Slavkov pending further inquiry into an alleged Olympic bid corruption.

Slavkov was shown in the "Panorama" program of BBC discussing with an agent and undercover BBC reporters on how votes could be bought in the campaign for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The BBC report, who was broadcast nine days before the Athens Olympics, is the latest corruption allegation against IOC since the notorious Salt Lake City scandal which broke out in late 1998 and led to the ouster of 10 members from the IOC.

IOC president Jacques Rogge, who watched the tape of the BBC report days ago, had promised to take "the necessary action" against any improper conduct of the IOC members, and referred the case to the ethics commission, a disciplinary body set up in the wake of the Salt Lake City bid scandal.

After one-week investigation assisted by the written documents transferred by the BBC, the ethics commission said in its report to the IOC executive board meeting on Saturday that the actions of Slavkov has required the application of the IOC Code of Ethics.

"The Olympic parties should use due care and diligence in fulfilling their mission. They must not act in a manner likely to tarnish the reputation of the Olympic movement,"said the ethics commission in a statement.

The BBC report was based on a year-long sting operation, with reporters posing as consultants for London businessmen. The BBC said four agents, including Goran Takac who contacted Slavkov, had promised to secure 54 votes for London, one of the five candidate cities for 2012 Games.

Both Takac and Slavkov claimed they knew it was a trap fabricated by BBC but played along to expose what they thought was a real attempt of corruption.

But the ethics commission didnot accept their explanation, and the executive board decided to deprive provisionally Slavkov's membership of the IOC throughout the inquiry.

Rogge said he was "an angry man" because of some individuals who "do not respect the rules".

"You can see in front of you an angry man,"said Rogge, who has initiated a series of counter-corruption reforms since he took over IOC in 2001.

"Unfortnately, we (the executive board) has discussed the dark and sombre sides of the sports like doping, alleged corruption and possible exclusion of a member. This is unpleasant of course, but it shows the resolve of the IOC to have zero tolerance to all the said aspects,"he said.

"The IOC under my leadership would be one hundred percent committed to respect the ethic rules, even if that is at a price of having painful decision to take,"said Rogge.

Besides the suspension of Slavkov, the four agents implicated in the BBC report were also banned from attending the Olympics in Athens starting on August 13. The IOC also recommended the Olympic family members not to be dealing with the four agents.

London bid committee had said that they had nothing to do with the BBC sting operation, and would always abide by the bid rules set by the IOC.

Rogge also stressed that the BBC report should not deter the IOC members from communicating with the candidates cities as long as the rules are obeyed.

"The problem is not in the candidate cities, the problem is in the agents,"he said. "We should not blame the candidate cities."