Blair's men back in spotlight

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair's Defence Secretary and his outgoing media aide faced tough cross-examination overnight in the final week of a judicial inquiry which has cast doubt on Britain's case for war in Iraq.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and Government communications director Alastair Campbell, who announced his resignation last month, were to be quizzed about a prewar dossier on Iraqi weapons and their handling of a scientist who questioned its central claim.

The inquiry into the suicide of weapons expert Dr David Kelly has already wreaked political damage on Blair.

Last week his ruling Labour Party lost its first byelection in 15 years, a stinging setback which reflected the collapse of public trust triggered by revelations at Lord Hutton's inquiry into Kelly's death.

Ahead of the cross-examination, an opinion poll yesterday found that one in three British voters thought Hoon should resign over the affair.

The survey of 2000 adults, conducted for the Financial Times by research group Mori, showed that one in five felt Blair should quit also.

Intelligence chiefs have conceded to Hutton that a warning in Blair's September 2002 dossier that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction at 45 minutes' notice was based only on information about short-range and relatively small-scale battlefield munitions. That intelligence came from a single source, quoting an Iraqi officer.

To overcome antiwar sentiment within Labour, Blair based his case for joining the US invasion of Iraq on the "serious and current threat" from Baghdad. But five months after the war no chemical or biological weapons have been found in Iraq.

Campbell and Hoon were also expected to be asked about the Government's handling of Kelly after he admitted to his bosses that he might have been the source of an explosive BBC report in May accusing Blair's Government of "sexing up" the dossier.

Hoon, singled out as a likely fall guy over the Kelly affair, has played down his role in the strategy to name the scientist.

But the inquiry has shown that he attended a meeting where officials at his ministry agreed to confirm Kelly was the suspected BBC source if his name was put to them by journalists.

He also overruled advice from his top civil servant to shield Kelly from a hostile parliamentary grilling just days before he took his life.

Campbell, who told the inquiry last month he had "no input, output or influence" on the inclusion of the 45-minute claim in the dossier, was likely to be asked why he asked senior intelligence officer John Scarlett to harden up the assertion.

Scarlett himself was to return for cross-examination, along with Blair's official spokesmen. The BBC, which stood by its report in public despite private doubts over "flawed reporting", will be in the dock when chairman Gavyn Davies is quizzed.

Counsel to Hutton's inquiry James Dingemans will deliver a closing statement this week. But for Blair, the long wait for a final verdict will stretch at least until November. Hutton warned last week there was no real prospect of delivering his final report in October.

- REUTERS

Hutton inquiry website

British Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee transcript:

Evidence of Dr David Kelly

Key players in the 'sexed-up dossier' affair

Herald Feature: Iraq