The late actress Anna Nicole Smith, whose alleged love affair with Bahamian Cabinet minister Shane Gibson (left), forced him to resign over claims of corruption. - Reuters

NASSAU (Reuters):

Bahamas Immigration Minister Shane Gibson has resigned amid fallout over his involvement with Anna Nicole Smith, the former Playboy Playmate and billionaire's widow who died earlier this month.

Gibson announced his resignation late on Sunday on state television and radio but denied any wrongdoing or romantic link to Smith, saying he had made the decision for the well-being of his family.

"My entire family has suffered enough. For far too long they have had to listen to one lie after another. It can only get worse," he said.

Under pressure

Gibson came under pressure to step down after the publication last week of photographs of him and Smith embracing on a bed and reports that he had fast-tracked her application for residency in the Caribbean nation.

Critics said he granted her residency status on the basis of their close friendship when, in fact, she met none of the criteria for such a permit.

However, Gibson denied this.

"I unconditionally deny that I ever abused my ministerial office by granting Anna Nicole Smith any permit of which she was undeserving or for which she was not qualified under the laws of the Bahamas and long-established immigration policies," the Bahama Journal newspaper quoted Gibson as saying.

According to local media reports, Gibson's mother was looking after Smith's five-month-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, when Smith died on February 8, aged 39, after collapsing in a Florida hotel.

The cause of death has yet to be determined and her body is the subject of a custody fight between her lawyer and companion, Howard K. Stern, and her mother, Virgie Arthur.

Political furore

The pictures of Gibson and Smith caused such a furore that Gibson's own Progressive Liberal Party colleagues feared the public relations debacle would affect their chances in the upcoming general election.

Gibson, a former trade-union official, said his continued presence on the front line of politics would make it more difficult for the Government to deliver its message for the upcoming elections.