Max Mosley said yesterday he will remain president of auto racing's world governing body despite calls for him to resign because of his role in a sex scandal.

He wrote to officials at his organization, acknowledging his embarrassment and asking for their support. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Associated Press.

Mosley, 67, said he will take legal action against the News of the World, which accused him of engaging in sexual acts with five prostitutes in a scenario that involved Nazi role-playing. Although he didn't deny his participation, Mosley said there was no "Nazi connotation to the matter," as was reported Sunday by the British tabloid.

"I have received a very large number of messages of sympathy and support ... suggesting that my private life is not relevant to my work and that I should continue in my role," Mosley wrote. "I am grateful and with your support I intend to follow this advice."

He termed the report a "wholly unwarranted invasion of my privacy and I intend to issue legal proceedings against the newspaper in the U.K. and other jurisdictions."

The letter was addressed to the presidents of FIA clubs, members of the FIA senate, the World Motor Sport Council and the World Council for Mobility and the Automobile.

"Not content with publicizing highly personal and private activities, which are, to say the least, embarrassing, a British tabloid newspaper published the story with the claim that there was some sort of Nazi connotation to the matter," Mosley wrote. "This is entirely false."

Mosley is the son of British Union of Fascists party founder Oswald Mosley, a former British politician who served in Parliament for both the Labour and Conservative parties. Oswald Mosley died in 1980.

"The News of the World stands by its story," newspaper spokesperson Hayley Barlow said.

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