BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. Republican Senator Larry Craig on Tuesday emphatically denied he was gay or had any wrongdoings despite pleading guilty to disorderly conduct after being arrested in a men's toilet at a Minnesota airport in June.

    The Idaho senator, who has spoken out against gay rights and same-sex marriage, was arrested by an undercover police officer probing lewd incidents in the men's public restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

    "I am not gay, I never have been gay," Craig, a married father of three, told a news conference in Boise, Idaho, and apologized to the people of Idaho for what he said was a "cloud" over the state because of the incident. "I did nothing wrong," he said.

    With his wife by his side, Craig said he had acted hastily in accepting the guilty plea because of what he called a "witch hunt" by the Idaho Statesman newspaper.

    "In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman's investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho. Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my misjudgment," he said.

    He declined to answer questions after his statement.

    His account contrasted sharply with the complaint in the case, in which Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport police Sgt. Dave Karsnia who arrested him June 11 said that Craig engaged in actions "often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct."

    Craig said the officer misinterpreted his actions.

    After he was taken for questioning, the police report said, Craig pulled out of a Senate business card and asked the officer: "What do you think of that?"

    Craig proclaimed his innocence less than an hour after Senate leaders from his own Republican Party called for an ethics committee review of his case.

    "This is a serious matter," they said in Washington in a written statement that offered neither support nor criticism of the conservative senator.

    A Senate Republican leadership aide said senators, who discussed the matter by phone, were especially concerned about the business card allegation.

    Craig, up for re-election next year, said he would announce his plans next month.

    Regardless of Craig's plans, it was clear his political standing had suffered.

    The official police complaint has a detailed account of Craig's case.

    It said airport police Sgt. Dave Karsnia, who was investigating allegations of sexual conduct in airport restrooms, went into a stall shortly after noon on June 11 and closed the door.

    Minutes later, the officer said he saw Craig gazing into his stall through the crack between the door and the frame.

    Karsnia wrote that when the person occupying the stall beside him left, Craig entered it and blocked the door with his rolling suitcase.

    "My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall," the officer said in his report.

    The senator then tapped his right foot, "a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct," Karsnia wrote, and Craig ran his left hand several times underneath the partition dividing the stalls.

    The officer then showed his police identification under the divider and pointed toward the exit "at which time the defendant exclaimed `No!'" the complaint said.

    When the police interviewed him later, the senator said that "he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom" and that was why his foot may have touched the officer's, the report said.

    (Agencies)

    U.S. anti-gay marriage senator admits misconduct in homosexual scandal

    WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Larry E. Craig, a firm gay marriage opponent, was arrested in June at an airport's men's bathroom and has pleaded guilty to misconduct, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

    Craig, 62, has been fined more than 500 U.S. dollars and placed on unsupervised probation for a year, according to the report.