Filipino recants rape claim after being granted US visa

The alleged rape victim of a US marine whose conviction sparked a diplomatic row between Washington and Manila has publicly recanted after she was granted a five-year working visa by the United States government.

The woman had now left to live in the US with her American boyfriend, said her mother, who confirmed the authenticity of an affidavit dated March 12.

Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, 24, was convicted of raping the woman in the back of a van after meeting in a Subic Bay nightclub, and was sentenced to life in prison in 2006.

The conviction prompted the US to threaten to call off military exercises with the Philippines until Smith was transferred to a detention centre on the grounds of the US embassy, where he remains. He is currently appealing against the conviction.

Before flying to the US last week, the 24-year-old woman left a signed affidavit saying: 'My conscience continues to bother me, realising that I may have in fact been so friendly and intimate with Daniel Smith at the Neptune Club that he was led to believe that I was amenable to having sex, or that we simply just got carried away.'

The document, notarised by Smith's law firm, was prepared and signed without the knowledge of the woman's lawyer, who has since been dismissed.