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Body found in wood matches UK weapons inspector
Fri Jul 18 12:56:29 2003
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Body found in wood matches UK weapons inspector
By Gideon Long
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters07-18-072017.asp?reg=MIDEAST

LONGWORTH, England, July 18 — British police found a body on Friday matching that of a mild-mannered scientist who disappeared after becoming unwittingly embroiled in a furious political dispute about the Iraq war.

The softly spoken 59-year-old had been thrust into the limelight by a row over whether the British government hyped the threat from Iraq in order to justify joining the U.S.-led war.
The political fallout was almost immediate. Prime Minister Tony Blair's government promised an independent judicial inquiry into events leading up to the death of Dr David Kelly, if it is confirmed.
Blair has refused previous calls for a wider inquiry into the government case for war in Iraq.
Kelly's family reported him missing overnight after he went for a walk in the Oxfordshire countryside on Thursday with no coat and stayed out despite a rainstorm. Police found a body in a wood near his home earlier on Friday.
''We can confirm that the body matches the description of Dr Kelly. The body has not been formally identified,'' a police spokeswoman said.
Kelly, a microbiologist at the Defence Ministry who had worked for U.N. inspectors in Iraq, had been grilled by parliamentarians on Tuesday after admitting he spoke to a reporter for Britain's BBC radio.
The reporter, Andrew Gilligan, said in May a senior intelligence source had told him the government ''sexed up'' data to emphasise the threat from Iraq.
That report sparked parliamentary hearings into how the government made the case for war, forced Blair onto the defensive and pitted government officials against the broadcaster in a heated war of words.
Blair spoke to top officials about the case from aboard a flight to Tokyo from Washington.
''The prime minister is obviously very distressed for the family of Dr Kelly,'' a spokesman said aboard the flight.
If the death is confirmed the defence ministry would hold an independent judicial inquiry, presided over by a judge with access to all government papers, he added.
Kelly's discomfort in the spotlight was evident from his demeanour at the foreign affairs committee hearing.
Speaking so softly he could barely be heard, he admitted he had met Gilligan but denied telling him Blair's communications chief Alastair Campbell had ordered intelligence on suspected Iraqi banned weapons to be hyped.
Kelly appeared shell-shocked when parliamentarians at the hearing described him as ''chaff'' and a government ''fall guy,'' put forward to shield top officials from blame.
Kelly's wife Jane described him as deeply upset by the hearing, family friend Tom Mangold, a television journalist, told ITV News.
''She told me he had been under considerable stress, that he was very very angry about what had happened at the committee..,'' Mangold said.
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Body Found in Hunt for U.K. Expert in Iraqi Arms Row (Update7)
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=ax7JO_mmxKEY&refer=uk

uly 18 (Bloomberg) -- A body has been found today during a hunt for a missing armaments expert named by the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense as a possible source for a report that a dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was ``sexed up,'' police said.

A police helicopter was dispatched to help search for David Kelly, who failed to return to his home in Southmoor, Oxfordshire, northwest of London, yesterday, Thames Valley Police said.

The body of a man matching Kelly's description was found face down in a wooded area near his home at 9:20 a.m. London time, police said. ``The body matches the description in terms of height, age, hair color, that sort of thing,'' police spokeswoman Kate Smith said. The body will be formally identified tomorrow, police said. No information was available on the cause of death.

Kelly, 59, a U.K. government weapons adviser, said he met a BBC journalist a week before a government dossier was published that said Iraq was capable of firing weapons of mass destruction with 45 minutes' notice and was a threat to other countries. He denied he told the journalist there was concern in intelligence circles that the dossier exaggerated Iraq's weapons capability.

Judicial Inquiry

If it is determined that the body is Kelly's, there will be a full, independent judicial inquiry into his death, Godric Smith, a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair, told reporters traveling with him to Tokyo today for the start of an Asian tour. Blair was informed of the body's discovery during the flight.

``This is very distressing news,'' Smith said. ``People should not jump to conclusions.''

If there is an inquiry, Downing Street will cooperate fully by providing materials and witnesses, he said. From the plane, Blair spoke with government defense and legal officials in London about Kelly's disappearance, Smith said.

``The prime minister is obviously very distressed for the family,'' Smith said.

A BBC report on the alleged ``sexing up'' of the dossier caused a rift with the government that has dominated the domestic media agenda. There have been calls by legislators for Blair to resign for ``misleading parliament'' over the reasons for going to war with Iraq. No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq since a U.S.-led coalition invaded it in March.

The prime minister's Asian tour follows his stopover in Washington yesterday, where he received 17 standing ovations by U.S. lawmakers during a speech in which he defended his support for the war against Iraq.

Publicly Questioned

Kelly was publicly questioned Tuesday over the row by a House of Commons committee. He said he didn't believe he was the main source for the BBC story. He also said he didn't think the intelligence services were unhappy with the dossier.

The BBC has refused to say whether it relied solely on Kelly for the information.

Kelly is a microbiologist and former senior United Nations weapons inspector. He visited Iraq on 37 occasions. Kelly went for a walk at 3 p.m. London time yesterday without wearing a coat on a stormy day. His family called police when he had failed to return home by 11:45 p.m. London time, police said.

The BBC report on the allegations surrounding the government dossier was compiled by journalist Andrew Gilligan.

Donald Anderson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee that questioned Kelly, said the weapons adviser had been ``poorly treated'' by the Ministry of Defense since telling officials he had met Gilligan. The Ministry of Defense has challenged that accusation.

``He seemed pretty composed,'' Anderson said of Kelly's appearance before the committee. ``I don't feel the grilling was particularly aggressive.''

Some members of parliament have said Kelly was the ``fall guy'' in an episode that was embarrassing for the government.

Pressure

``He did give a hint of the pressure he was under when he said he was unable to get to his house at the moment because of the media intrusion,'' the BBC cited Richard Ottaway, an opposition Conservative member of parliament, as saying. ``He is not used to the media glare. He is not used to the intense spotlight he has been under.''

Ottaway called for an inquiry ``at the highest level'' into the treatment of Kelly. His demand was echoed by Peter Kilfoyle, a member of Blair's Labour Party.

``Dr. Kelly was a reluctant witness,'' said Labour lawmaker Eric Illsley, member of the committee. ``He obviously didn't want to be in the public spotlight.''

Blair Aide Cleared

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee cleared the government's director of communications, Alastair Campbell, of ``sexing up'' the dossier. It said the ``jury was still out'' over case for war in Iraq. Anderson said it was ``most unlikely'' that Kelly was Gilligan's source.

Smith declined to say whether Blair spoke with Campbell after word reached Blair's plane about Kelly's disappearance. Campbell flew back to London from Washington after Blair's visit.

Blair's Downing Street office said Kelly had volunteered the fact that he had met Gilligan and as a result may have been thought of as the source of the information in the BBC report. It was made clear to him his name would be put in the public domain, a U.K. official said.

Kelly had said he ``deeply, deeply disliked'' what had happened to him, and his wife said he was angry about it, the BBC's political editor, Andrew Marr, reported.
Last Updated: July 18, 2003 10:31 EDT

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