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| Mayor Rob Ford was surrounded by reporters outside his offices |
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The Mayor
of the Canadian city of Toronto, Rob Ford, has denied allegations that he has
been caught on video smoking crack cocaine.
The Toronto
Star said that two of its reporters were shown the video clip - reportedly
filmed on a smartphone - by someone trying to sell it to the paper.
The
newspaper says that it cannot verify the video's authenticity.
Mr Ford
called the allegations "ridiculous" when he emerged from his house on
Friday.
Later,
outside his office, Mr Ford refused to take questions but in brief comments
said it was "another story with respect to the Toronto Star going after
me".
He added:
"That's all I've got to say for now."
Mr Ford's
lawyer, Dennis Morris, earlier told the Toronto Sun: "We're just trying to
see whether or not such a video exists and whether or not any video has been
doctored or altered."
The Toronto Star said two of its reporters were shown the video on 3 May, after meeting an
anonymous tipster in a car park.
'Well-lit
room'
The
newspaper said the footage appeared to show Mr Ford "sitting in a chair, wearing
a white shirt, top buttons open, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack
pipe".
The Toronto
Star said that although it had no way to verify the authenticity of the video,
the clip "appears to clearly show Ford in a well-lit room".
The paper
added that it "did not pay money and did not obtain a copy of the
video".
In an editorial, the Toronto Star said the city needed answers "right away"
about the incident.
"It's
not enough for the mayor to try and slough this off with a one-word denial and
point a finger, yet again, at the Star for reporting on it," it said.
Toronto
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday told reporters it was "shocking to see it on the
front page of a paper" and that he did not believe the article and still
had confidence in the mayor.
The editor
of US online news site Gawker, John Cook, said in a blog post that he had also
seen the clip but did not want to pay the six-figure amount demanded by the
video's owner.
Mr Ford's
lawyer reportedly sent an email to Gawker, threatening legal action.
"Mayor
Ford denies such... took place, and if such posting occurs, it is false and
defamatory, and you will be held legally accountable," the email read,
according to Gawker.
Meanwhile,
Canadian paper The Province has launched an online fundraising campaign to buy
the video.
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