Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd says the timing of the release of video out-takes of him swearing and losing his temper is a little unusual but he is not going to point the finger at anyone.
He said the video, in which an obviously frustrated Mr Rudd slams the table and uses four-letter curses, was embarrassing but his frustration was directed at himself and no one else.
The video surfaced on YouTube on Saturday evening and quickly found its way into a variety of national and international media.
It comes amid a period of intense leadership speculation over Mr Rudd and Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who replaced him as leader in June 2010.
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Advertise with NZME."Anyone who's got a touch of suspicion about them would say that if this was done, somewhat embarrassingly, a couple of years ago, and it suddenly emerges now, then obviously it's a little bit on the unusual side," Mr Rudd told Sky News.
"But these are questions for others.
"But the bottom line here is, I accept responsibility for what occurred. I'm not about to point the finger at others."
He said the video was from one of a number of speeches he recorded from time to time for Chinese community occasions, and was probably done in a reception room next to the prime minister's office "a couple of years ago".
"You'd sit down and try and get the script right. Obviously I wasn't getting it right on this occasion and was getting pretty frustrated about it."
Mr Rudd said it was no secret that he did often swear.
"I've never pretended not to swear from time to time. That's been out there for a long, long time.
"I wish I'd sweared (sic) less but that's just the truth of it."
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