The Philippine presidential palace Sunday said it uncovered a plot to overthrow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by linking her to alleged irregularities in the 2004 elections.

"Intelligence reports reaching the palace point to another desperate plot of some segments of the opposition to smear and destabilize the administration via so-called taped conversation between the president and a certain commissioner plotting electionfraud," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

Bunye said the allegation is "pure concoction" and is another "wild story". The tape supposedly came from US government sources "thereby suggesting some kind of official US involvement in a plot to oust the president," Bunye said.

He said he called up a senior official of the United States Embassy who denied they are backing a destabilization plot againstArroyo. The Embassy official, however, said he heard of the "destabilization plot" about a month ago and thought that it had died down, Bunye said.

Bunye said the destabilization plot could be a follow-up of thefailed jueteng controversy linking the Arroyo administration and the president's family to the numbers racket.

"This new story about election fraud is a canard and even the US Embassy in Manila has dismissed the allegations of US government involvement as false," Bunye said.

He said the government expects a press conference will be held by the plotters about the alleged taped conversation of the president and the Commission of Election commissioner either Sunday or Monday.

Source: Xinhua