Ottawa - Allan Rock stood his ground against the political forces of Paul Martin on Wednesday, refusing to back away from charges that Liberal party membership rules are skewed in favour of Martin in any leadership race.

Sources say backbench MPs who support Martin, the finance minister, put his adversary on the hot seat in Liberal caucus meetings.

They demanded Rock apologize for hurting the party by going public with his complaints against Martin two weeks ago.

Rock, the industry minister, adamantly refused and mounted a vigorous counter-attack.

"He repeated that the rules are unfair and that, if they had been in place when he first ran, he would never have been elected," said an MP who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rock associates say he was referring to the fact that, to gain the Liberal nomination in his Toronto-area riding in 1993, he had to wrest control of the local organization from anti-abortion activists who then dominated the riding executive.

He overcame them by signing up masses of new members - a recruiting drive that Rock says would have been impossible under rule changes later pushed through by Martin partisans.

Ottawa - Allan Rock stood his ground against the political forces of Paul Martin on Wednesday, refusing to back away from charges that Liberal party membership rules are skewed in favour of Martin in any leadership race.

Sources say backbench MPs who support Martin, the finance minister, put his adversary on the hot seat in Liberal caucus meetings.

They demanded Rock apologize for hurting the party by going public with his complaints against Martin two weeks ago.

Rock, the industry minister, adamantly refused and mounted a vigorous counter-attack.

"He repeated that the rules are unfair and that, if they had been in place when he first ran, he would never have been elected," said an MP who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rock associates say he was referring to the fact that, to gain the Liberal nomination in his Toronto-area riding in 1993, he had to wrest control of the local organization from anti-abortion activists who then dominated the riding executive.

He overcame them by signing up masses of new members - a recruiting drive that Rock says would have been impossible under rule changes later pushed through by Martin partisans.

The Martin camp also demanded Wednesday that Rock distance himself from Warren Kinsella, a Toronto lawyer who is on his leadership team.

Kinsella roused the ire of Martin backers by suggesting the restrictive membership rules they favour could be used in future to shut ethnic minorities out of the party.

He has also levelled separate attacks on Ontario caucus chairman John McKay and backbencher Dan McTeague, both well-known Martin backers.

Rock replied that he is answerable only for his own words and will let Kinsella speak for himself. 

McTeague, speaking after the caucus meeting Wednesday, said he not only wants Rock to disown Kinsella but expects Prime Minister Jean Chretien to intervene.

Kinsella was once on Chretien's staff but has not worked for him for several years.

All the same, said McTeague, "this is something the prime minister is going to have to deal with. . . . The connection of Mr. Kinsella to the prime minister, and the connection of cabinet minister Rock to the prime minister, is obvious for all to see."

One well-placed source suggested late Wednesday that Kinsella, in an effort to calm the storm, was in the process of writing personally to McKay and McTeague apologizing for his past attacks.

Kinsella could not be reached for comment.

Chretien, who was in Germany on a Team Canada trade mission, was philosophical about the infighting back home.

"It's a pretty lively party," the prime minister told reporters. "You always say that I control them too much. . . . So I'm not doing that."

The battle spilled over to another front earlier this week, when some in the Martin camp accused Chretien and party whip Marlene Catterall of manoeuvring to deny the chairmanship of the influential Commons finance committee to Roy Cullen, a strong Martin supporter.

The Martin camp also demanded Wednesday that Rock distance himself from Warren Kinsella, a Toronto lawyer who is on his leadership team.

Kinsella roused the ire of Martin backers by suggesting the restrictive membership rules they favour could be used in future to shut ethnic minorities out of the party.

He has also levelled separate attacks on Ontario caucus chairman John McKay and backbencher Dan McTeague, both well-known Martin backers.

Rock replied that he is answerable only for his own words and will let Kinsella speak for himself.

McTeague, speaking after the caucus meeting Wednesday, said he not only wants Rock to disown Kinsella but expects Prime Minister Jean Chretien to intervene.

Kinsella was once on Chretien's staff but has not worked for him for several years.

All the same, said McTeague, "this is something the prime minister is going to have to deal with. . . . The connection of Mr. Kinsella to the prime minister, and the connection of cabinet minister Rock to the prime minister, is obvious for all to see."

One well-placed source suggested late Wednesday that Kinsella, in an effort to calm the storm, was in the process of writing personally to McKay and McTeague apologizing for his past attacks.

Kinsella could not be reached for comment.

Chretien, who was in Germany on a Team Canada trade mission, was philosophical about the infighting back home.

"It's a pretty lively party," the prime minister told reporters. "You always say that I control them too much. . . . So I'm not doing that."

The battle spilled over to another front earlier this week, when some in the Martin camp accused Chretien and party whip Marlene Catterall of manoeuvring to deny the chairmanship of the influential Commons finance committee to Roy Cullen, a strong Martin supporter.