Hoon, not Blair, recalled to UK Hutton inquiry

British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, whose career is widely seen as on the line, will be hauled back in front of an inquiry into the suicide of a British expert on Iraqi arms, lawyers said yesterday.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, who has himself given evidence to the Hutton inquiry, will not be reappearing.

Hoon, scientist David Kelly's ultimate boss, has been portrayed as a potential fall guy, lined up to take the rap to protect Blair's position as his government's ratings plunge in the wake of the Iraq war.

Kelly slashed his wrist in July after he was exposed as the source of a BBC report accusing the government of hyping up the case for war to win over sceptical Britons.

Blair's public trust ratings have shrivelled with most Britons doubting the case he made for attacking Iraq and many blaming his government for Kelly's demise.

Counsel to senior judge Lord Hutton's inquiry, James Dingemans, dashed any lingering government hopes that the inquiry will focus narrowly on Kelly's fate and not the wider case Blair made for war.

In an opening statement, he listed a wide range of witnesses from government and the BBC. They could be cross-examined by lawyers representing all parties over the next two weeks - promising much sharper exchanges than have been seen so far.

As well as Hoon and Blair's outgoing communications chief Alastair Campbell, who will both testify next Monday, senior Ministry of Defence figures will be recalled as will the author of the BBC report, Andrew Gilligan, and his bosses.

Just as importantly, John Scarlett - head of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee - who was responsible for the government's controversial September 2002 dossier on Iraq's weaponry, will be required to testify again.

The inquiry has already seen that Campbell and other Blair aides bombarded Scarlett with suggestions to harden up the language in the dossier. Defence intelligence officials voiced serious doubts about its content.

Campbell denies he "sexed up" the dossier on the threat posed by Iraq but no banned weapons - the main reason Blair gave for war - have been found five months after Saddam Hussein's overthrow.

Blair's two official spokesmen will also appear again.

The embattled Hoon claimed to have played no part in the decision to push Kelly into the public spotlight but his top aide later placed him at a key meeting which discussed just that.

- 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