World News

Inspector suicide puts pressure on Blair

SHANGHAI, China (AP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said July 22 that he did not authorize the identification of a weapons inspector as the news source for a BBC report questioning the honesty of a government dossier on Iraqi weapons.

The inspector, David Kelly, killed himself July 17 by slashing his left wrist, following his interview by a parliamentary committee and after being identified by the British Ministry of Defense as a possible source for the BBC report.

The BBC had infuriated the government with a report in May which quoted an unidentified source as questioning the claim in the September 2002 dossier that Iraq was poised to deploy some chemical and biological weapons within 45 minutes.

The BBC reporter, Andrew Gilligan, subsequently said his source had accused Blair's communications director, Alastair Campbell, of insisting on including the claim despite the skepticism of some intelligence officials.

The BBC confirmed that Kelly was the source of the report after his death, but the Ministry of Defense declined to comment on who authorized Kelly's identification, saying it preferred to wait for the judicial inquiry into his suicide.

Kelly's family issued a statement saying his "life had become intolerable" after he was swept up in a clash between the media and the government over allegations that Blair's case for going to war was based on exaggerated claims about Iraq's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

Blair, who continues to say the war on Iraq led by Britain and the United States was justified, has been under increasing pressure as weeks have passed with no weapons of mass destruction being found.

Shukan ST: Aug. 1, 2003

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