Gore welcomes inquiry into 'sex poodle' claims

Kalee Kreider said Mr Gore "unequivocally and emphatically" denied making unwanted sexual advances. She added that "further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr Gore".

Portland police did not say why it was reopening the investigation in its brief statement on Wednesday.

"It's now an open investigation and I can't comment," police

spokeswoman Mary Wheat said.

Police earlier said they considered the case closed because there was no evidence. They said last week that the woman's lawyer came to them with the allegations in 2006 but that the woman cancelled appointments with detectives.

The case reopened in January 2009, when detectives interviewed the woman but determined there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations.

The woman alleges Mr Gore made unwanted sexual advances during a massage appointment on October 24, 2006, at the downtown Hotel Lucia, where Mr Gore was reportedly registered as "Mr Stone". Mr Gore was in Portland to deliver a speech on climate change.

The story first broke when the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer reported the allegations a week ago.

Ms Kreider also said "Mr Gores cannot comment on every defamatory, misleading and inaccurate story generated by tabloids."

Mr Gore and his wife Tipper announced last month that they were separating.

Mr Gore, who served as vice president under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, lost the 2000 presidential election to George Bush. After that loss, he turned his attention to climate change, undertaking a worldwide campaign which led in 2007 to a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for the documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

According to her 2009 interview with police, the masseuse described the allegations at length. She said Mr Gore groped, kissed and pinned her down on a bed. She told Mr Gore he was acting like a "crazed sex poodle."

The woman said she felt there would be consequences if she didn't co-operate.

After the alleged incident, the woman said she was dissuaded from contacting the police by liberal friends who feared it would harm green politics.