Bloemfontein - It should be possible for the intelligence community to give the Hefer Commission the necessary information without its sources and methods being revealed, commission secretary John Bacon said yesterday.

"We are not interested in their sources or methods," Bacon said.

"We are only asking them whether he (national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka) was an agent for the apartheid government. Surely it should be possible to find a way to protect their sources and methods."

Security agencies reportedly announced earlier that they could not co-operate with the commission due to the sensitive nature of intelligence files it had requested.

Legislation prevented the intelligence community from revealing its methods and sources, it was reported.

The Hefer Commission was set up by President Thabo Mbeki to probe allegations that Ngcuka was an apartheid spy.

Its secretariat was scheduled to meet late yesterday with lawyers representing the SA Police Service and National Intelligence.

Bacon said the commission would be represented by its investigators, deputy secretary Solly Ngwenya and evidence leader Kessie Naidu.

Procedures for the two organisations' participation in the public hearings before the commission would be the main subject of discussion. Witnesses to be called - former and current officers - would also be determined.

Military Intelligence had not yet responded to the commission's request for its co-operation, Bacon said.

He added that it was still not certain which witnesses would be called when the commission resumed its hearings in Bloemfontein tomorrow. They were expected to be members of the intelligence community.

A weekend newspaper reported that former apartheid spy Craig Williamson had been informally approached by the commission to contribute to its investigation.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and the Cape Times.