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Statement By Geoff Hoon, Secretary Of State For Defence |
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(Source: UK Ministry of Defence issued July 19, 2003
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The death of Dr David Kelly is shocking and tragic. Our thoughts and sympathies are with his family. It is only right that we do our utmost to establish the full circumstances surrounding this tragedy.
Accordingly, the Government has invited the Right Honourable The Lord Hutton urgently to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly. The Government will provide Lord Hutton with the fullest cooperation and expects all other authorities and parties to do the same.
It will be for Lord Hutton to decide how to conduct the inquiry and the extent to which it is held in private or public. (ends)
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David Kelly was Source for BBC Reports on Exaggerated Iraqi Weapons |
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(Source: Voice of America news issued July 20, 2003)
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LONDON --- The British Broadcasting Corporation says biological scientist David Kelly, who killed himself on Friday, was the source of its reports that the British government exaggerated intelligence information in order to justify the attack on Iraq.
The BBC's director of news, Richard Sambrook, says the corporation will hand over all its material to an independent inquiry looking into Dr. Kelly's death.
We will make a full and frank submission to Lord Hutton and will provide full details of all the contacts between Dr. Kelly and two BBC journalists, said Mr. Sambrook, including contemporaneous notes and other materials made by both journalists independently.
The reporters' notes could be damning to the Tony Blair government. The British prime minister, who is currently on a tour of Asia, rejected demands made for a recall of parliament to deal with the crisis. (ends)
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Death of Weapons Inspector Overshadows Blair's E. Asia Tour |
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(Source: Voice of America news issued July 20, 2003)
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TOKYO --- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has rejected suggestions that he shorten his Asian tour and recall Parliament because of the suicide of a government scientist embroiled in a dispute over the war in Iraq.
In an interview from Japan with Britain's Sky News, Prime Minister Blair said it would be inappropriate to recall Parliament over the death of government scientist David Kelly. British police confirmed Saturday that Mr. Kelly's body was found near his home in England, apparently having killed himself.
He had been named as a possible source for a BBC news story suggesting that Mr. Blair's aides exaggerated intelligence about Baghdad's suspected weapons of mass destruction, in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.
Mr. Blair, who met with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Sunday on the second leg of his Asian tour, has ordered a judicial inquiry into Mr. Kelly's death. At a joint press conference with South Korea's president, he again refused to be drawn into a detailed discussion of the controversy.
Of course there are things that I will talk about to the inquiry, as will others, he said. But I think the right and proper process is that I speak to the judge who is head of the inquiry, in the way other people will.
The scandal has somewhat eclipsed the main reason for the British leader's trip to Asia: offering support for a peaceful end to the dispute over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
In Seoul, as in Tokyo the day before, Mr. Blair voiced support for multilateral negotiations to end the nuclear stand-off. He said South Korea and Japan must have a role in finding a solution to the crisis, along with the United States, China and North Korea.
Mr. Blair and President Roh both voiced optimism that a peaceful solution could be found. Asked why North Korea was being treated differently from Iraq, Mr. Blair said the history was different, even though the urgency was the same.
The issue of weapons of mass destruction and unstable states proliferating such weapons is a challenge for the whole of the international community, and North Korea is a part of that situation, explained Mr. Blair.
The meeting between the two leaders came as U.S. officials confirmed a report that Pyongyang may have built a secret plant for making weapons-grade plutonium.
North Korea has long had a nuclear facility in Yongbyon. But U.S. officials say analysis of gases released into the North Korean atmosphere suggest the existence of another, previously unknown plant.
The current nuclear dispute flared last October, when the United States said North Korea admitted to running a nuclear weapons program in violation of an agreement with the United States. The North escalated tensions earlier this month when it said it had reprocessed enough spent nuclear fuel for several nuclear bombs. Washington is investigating this claim.
Mr. Blair traveled on Sunday night to China, North Korea's only significant ally, for the third and final leg of his trip.
-ends-
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