Bahamas minister resigns over Anna Nicole -paper

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) Bahamas Immigration Minister Shane Gibson resigned amid controversy over his involvement with Anna Nicole Smith, the former Playboy Playmate who died earlier this month, the Bahama Journal said today.

Gibson announced his resignation yesterday on state television and denied any wrongdoing or any romantic link to the billionaire's widow, the online edition of the newspaper reported.

Gibson came under pressure to resign after the publication last week of photographs of him and Smith embracing on a bed, fully clothed, and reports that he had fast-tracked her application for residency in the Caribbean nation.

''I unconditionally deny that I ever abused my ministerial office by granting Anna Nicole Smith any permit of which she was undeserving or for which she was not qualified under the laws of the Bahamas and long established immigration policies,'' the paper quoted Gibson as saying.

Gibson described Smith as a family friend, according to the paper. Gibson's mother was looking after Smith's five-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, when she died on February.

8, aged 39, after collapsing in a Florida hotel.

The cause of death has yet to be determined and her body is the subject of a custody fight between her lawyer and boyfriend, Howard K Stern, and her mother, Virgie Arthur.

A paternity suit over Dannielynn is one of several legal battles launched since her death.

REUTERS AKJ PM1549