Iraq expert's death may be probed again says paper

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose leadership has been rocked by an inquiry into the suicide of an Iraq weapons expert, might have to endure a second inquiry into his death, The Times newspaper said on Saturday.

The Hutton Inquiry into the death of scientist David Kelly has raised questions about the case the government made for invading Iraq. Its report will be delivered by December.

But a coroner in Kelly's home county of Oxfordshire said he might reopen his own inquest, which was adjourned at the start of the Hutton Inquiry, because several witnesses had refused to let judge Lord Hutton see their statements to police.

Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said at least five witness statements were not seen by Lord Hutton, according to the newspaper.

"Why these individuals concerned do not want their evidence to go forward I do not know," he was quoted as saying. "I shall ask police to show them to me if necessary. It depends on my reading of the (Hutton) report, which does not exist yet."

Police interviewed 500 people, took 300 witness statements and passed the 70 most relevant on to Lord Hutton, but only where the witnesses had given their permission, the paper said.

Kelly, a renowned expert on Iraq's banned weapons, was found dead with a slit wrist, shortly after being named as the source of a BBC news report saying the government had "sexed up" evidence Iraq had banned weapons to justify war to a sceptical public.

The report sparked a feud between the government and the public broadcaster, during which Kelly was thrust into the limelight as the BBC's source

Hutton's inquiry has plunged Blair into the worst political crisis of his six-year tenure.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq