Spears briefly reunited with sons

Spears had not been allowed to see her sons since January

Troubled US pop star Britney Spears has spent several hours with her two sons after being granted access to visit them on Saturday.

It is nearly two months since she last saw them, after her ex-husband Kevin Federline was legally given sole custody of them on 4 January.

But Mr Federline's lawyer said on Saturday an agreement allowing Spears to see her children had been reached.

Mark Vincent Kaplan said both parents agreed to a revision of a court order.

'Participant in their lives'

The order had stripped Spears, 26, of her visitation rights.

"The process of reinstating the children's mother as a participant in their lives can commence," Mr Kaplan said.

Mr Federline's spokesman, Elliot Mintz, said Spears' father, James, played a key part in making possible the visit with Jayden James, aged one, and Sean Preston, two.

He gave no further details of the reunion.

The court order was put in place in January after Spears had refused to return her children to their father after a visit. It resulted in a stand-off with police at her house.

She was admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward following the incident, and spent another six days in a psychiatric unit earlier this month.

Mr Federline had been awarded primary custody of the boys last October.

Spears is barred from seeing sons

Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline did not attend the hearing

Pop star Britney Spears has failed in a court bid to regain visitation rights to her two children.

A spokesman for Los Angeles Superior Court confirmed that no change had been made to an existing order denying Ms Spears visits to her sons.

The pop star was banned from monitored visits last month after refusing to hand the children back, resulting in a stand-off with police at her house.

Ms Spears was taken to hospital in an ambulance following the incident.

She spent another six days in a psychiatric unit earlier this month.

Paparazzi presence

The singer's ex-husband Kevin Federline was awarded primary custody of two-year-old Sean Preston and Jayden James, aged one, in October.

At Tuesday's hearing, the singer's lawyer Anne Kiley was denied a request for an order to gag other lawyers in the case from discussing it with the media.

She had argued that the coverage was "emotionally and physically" a strain on the star, and requested that times of hearings could not be disclosed to the press.

Mr Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, said the two children were not being put at risk and that Ms Spears was more concerned about the constant presence of paparazzi.

Mr Kaplan addressed reporters outside the court

He added that he hoped there would no longer be "pre-leaking of information to favoured media outlets as to where they [Ms Spears and companions] are going and how they will get there."

Mr Kaplan was referring to the development that the singer's father James has taken charge of her affairs by order of the courts.

Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, who has been presiding over the lengthy child custody dispute, granted Ms Spears' request to replace Ms Kiley with another lawyer.

Outside the hearing, Mr Kaplan told reporters that Mr Federline would like his former wife to see their children.

"Both sides want to see the day that visitation can resume. It's a question of working out the details of how that can happen," he said.

"Mr. Federline looks forward to his children having their mom in their life."