Dead U.K. Arms Adviser Was BBC Source

21/07/2003| IslamWeb

The British Broadcasting Corp. said Sunday that David Kelly, a scientist whose apparent suicide intensified a debate over whether the government inflated claims about Iraqi weapons, was its main source for a story at the center of the dispute. "Having now informed Dr. Kelly's family, we can confirm that Dr. Kelly was the principal source" for a story in which reporter Andrew Gilligan quoted an anonymous official as saying the government had inflated claims of Iraqi weapons, the network said in a statement. "The BBC believes we accurately interpreted and reported the factual information obtained by us during interviews with Dr. Kelly," the statement continued. The statement said Kelly had also been the source for a piece by reporter Susan Watts on the BBC's "Newsnight" analysis program. Kelly was recently grilled by a Parliamentary committee days after his name was leaked as the suspected source for Gilligan's May 29 radio report. Late Thursday, hours after he left his home near Oxford for a walk, his family reported him missing. The next day police found his body in a wooded area a few miles away, his left wrist slashed and a partly empty package of painkillers nearby. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in South Korea on Sunday, said he would take full responsibility if an inquiry found that his government had indirectly contributed Kelly's suicide. Blair said he would give evidence to the independent judicial inquiry into the defense adviser's death, and he urged media and politicians to show "respect and restraint" while that process takes place. "Of course there are things that I will talk about to the inquiry as will others," Blair told a news conference in the ornate grounds of the South Korean presidential compound after a meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun. "That is the best way to proceed after what has been a terrible, terrible tragedy." The prime minister insisted he had no intention of resigning, despite the controversy surrounding the death of Kelly and the ongoing row over the government's use of intelligence in the buildup to war. He also rejected calls to cut short his tour of Asia. Throughout the bitter dispute between the government and the BBC over Gilligan's story, the BBC had refused to say whether the soft-spoken scientist, who was a top United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq in the 1990s, had been its source. "Over the past few weeks we have been at pains to protect Dr. Kelly being identified as the source of these reports," the BBC statement said. "We clearly owed him a duty of confidentiality. Following his death, we now believe, in order to end the continuing speculation, it is important to release this information as swiftly as possible." The statement said the BBC had waited until Sunday to make the announcement at the Kelly family's request. **PHOTO CAPTION*** David Kelly, 59, the British Ministry of Defense adviser on Iraqi arms, is seen in this July 15, 2003 file photo, after being questioned by the Foreign Affairs Select. (AP Photo/Johnny Green/PA)