Bermuda's top civil servants are still puzzling over a permanent replacement for Attorney General Elliott Mottley.

And there are fresh rumours on the Island's legal circuit that Mr. Mottley could still sign a new long-term contract.

The Royal Gazette revealed last month that Mr. Mottley accepted an extra $30,000 to stay in Bermuda's top legal post until the end of November.

Five lawyers, including two Bermudians, have applied to replace Mr. Mottley.

It emerged last night that the leading contender could be Milligan-Whyte and Smith lawyer Ian Kawaley.

Mr. Kawaley said: "I know nothing about what the current position is and really I don't think I can comment.'' Mr. Mottley, on his first day back in Bermuda following two conferences in his native Barbados, added: "I have never been one to comment on rumours.

"My contract runs until the end of November and that is that.'' But outgoing Deputy Governor Peter Willis would not rule out the possibility that Mr. Mottley could stay on longer.

He said: "We are still looking at the post and it's a complicated process.

"Mr. Mottley is here until the end of November at the moment and we are still considering how to fill the post.

"Others have expressed interest but there have been no applications as such because we have never advertised the post.

"As for whether or not Mr. Mottley will stay, I would not rule it out. I would not rule anything out.'' Government offered 57-year-old Mr. Mottley extra cash to stay in the position as a "gratuity'' in June.

It means the Attorney General is now being paid an extra $5,000 a month -- on top of his $125,000-a-year salary and house in Paget.

He was originally meant to have vacated the post by the end of June to work in private practice in Barbados.

And legal insiders began accusing Government of trying to delay a decision on a new Attorney General until after the General Election.

A Government spokesman said: "The gratuity which is being paid to Mr. Mottley is to compensate him for the disadvantage to which he has been put by agreeing to stay on in Bermuda until later this year.

"It is the second time he has extended his contract at the Government's request. On this occasion, the request was made because he knows Bermuda's law, and especially election law, intimately.''