Los Angeles (AFP)

The founder of the Tesla automaker, Elon Musk, assured Tuesday at the opening of his libel trial in Los Angeles that his intention had never been to "literally" pedophile a British spelunker, and renewed his apology to the scientist.

The billionaire told the jury that he was "pissed off" when he attacked Britain's Vernon Unsworth on Twitter in the summer of 2018.

The latter described as "publicity stunt" Elon Musk's aborted offer to send a miniature submarine to help rescue 12 young footballers and their coach, trapped by the rising waters as they were exploring a Thai cave.

The youth remained stranded for two weeks before being evacuated after a large-scale international operation, in which the speleologist had participated.

Following a quarrel by media, Elon Musk had used on Twitter the term "pedo" ("pedo guy") to refer to Mr. Unsworth, 64, who lives part of the year in Thailand.

"It's idiomatic, I did not literally think he was a pedophile," defended Tuesday Elon Musk, dressed in a black suit and a dark tie.

The spelunker's accusation of "publicity" was "an unjustified attack on an honest attempt to save the children," he said. "It was insulting so I insulted him back."

- "Dispute" -

Faced with the outcry provoked at the time by his comments on the social network, the boss had apologized to the caver and erased the offensive messages.

Asked why he had not said clearly at the time that he did not consider Mr. Unsworth to be a pedophile, Mr. Musk replied that he did not think he needed to do it as much as it seemed to him obvious. "For me it did not require any clarification," he said.

"I apologized and I say it again: I apologize to Mr Unsworth," Mr Musk repeated Tuesday, visibly uncomfortable.

The whimsical businessman is often singled out for his escapades. His testimony is expected to continue Wednesday in court.

Mr. Musk had already defended himself by assuring that the term "pedo guy" was a common insult in South Africa, where he grew up. "It's synonymous with + old man glaucous + and it's used to insult the appearance of a person and his behavior, not to accuse this person of pedophile acts," had pleaded the boss of Tesla in a document filed with of the court.

Billionaire's lawyer, Alex Spiro, repeated this argument on Tuesday. This is "mocking tweets, provocative in a dispute between two men," tried to argue the lawyer.

In response, the British speleologist's lawyers presented other tweets deemed insulting by Mr Musk.

The trial, during which Mr. Unsworth will also provide his version of the facts, is expected to conclude by Friday.

© 2019 AFP