Trudeau cabinet minister resigns amid row

TORONTO, Feb 13 (AP): Canada's former justice minister announced Tuesday that she was quitting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Cabinet - a move that follows allegations Trudeau's office pressured her to avoid prosecuting a major Canadian engineering firm.

Veterans Affairs Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould released a letter announcing her resignation but gave no reasons. She had been demoted from the post of justice minister last month.

The Globe and Mail newspaper reported last week that Trudeau or his staff pressured her to arrange a deal with Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin that would let it avoid criminal prosecution on allegations of corruption involving government contracts in Libya.

Trudeau said he was "puzzled" and "surprised and disappointed" by her decision.

"Allow me to very clear. Our government did its job properly and according to all the rules," Trudeau said.

The prime minister said Wilson-Raybould never came to him in the fall with concerns the government was not acting properly.