FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon met the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch on her official visit to New York in June, it has emerged.
The meeting was not publicised by the Scottish Government and was not included in a published diary detailing the SNP leader’s trip to the Big Apple.
The SNP has long faced controversy over its relationship with Mr Murdoch, seen as a hate figure to many.
Opponents of the SNP suggested that some of Ms Sturgeon's supporters would be less then impressed to discover that the two had met.
The Scottish edition of Mr Murdoch's Sun newspaper backed the SNP during May's General Election.
But south of the Border the tabloid supported the Conservatives and warned of the dangers posed by a Labour government propped up by the SNP.
The First Minister met Mr Murdoch during a visit to the offices of the Wall Street Journal while in New York.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The First Minister was invited to and attended a meeting of the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal.
"The editor-in-chief invited Mr Murdoch in toward the end of the meeting to greet the First Minister. No private meeting took place.”
He added that the meeting would also be published as part of the First Minister’s official list of public engagements.
During her trip Ms Sturgeon met a number of high-profile individuals, including cult US television TV host Jon Stewart, the Scots-born actor Alan Cumming and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde.
In the run up to last year’s referendum Mr Murdoch appeared to signal his support for Scottish independence, using the micro-blogging website Twitter to say: “Let Scotland go and compete. Everyone would win”.
Jackson Carlaw, the deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said it was “odd” that such a high-profile engagement was not mentioned by the First Minister in her diary.
He said: “Given this was one of the most significant things the First Minister did while in the US, it's odd that it wasn't included in her schedule.
“No doubt the SNP's swathes of socialist supporters will be thrilled at this news of hobnobbing."
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