British government documents released today show that top officials tried to stop scientist Dr DavidKelly airing doubts on the controversial Iraq dossier on whichprime minister Mr Tony Blair based the case for war. The documents emerged in an inquiry into the suicide ofweapons expert Dr Kelly, sucked into the heart of a furious rowbetween Mr Blair's government and the BBC over whether intelligencewas "sexed up" for political ends.
Dr Kelly was outed as the source for a BBC journalist's reportaccusing Mr Blair's inner circle of hyping evidence about Iraq'sweapons capability to win over a sceptical public.
An official note, written on July 14th, the day before Kellywas due to testify to a parliamentary committee, made clear thatDr Kelly would be told to keep his views to himself.
It said the respected scientist was due to be briefed laterthat day by the deputy chief of defence intelligence (DCDI)about his appearances in front of the foreign affairs committeeand intelligence and security committee on July 15th and 16th.
"DCDI is to brief Dr Kelly this afternoon for his appearancetomorrow before the FAC and ISC and will strongly recommend thatKelly is not drawn on his assessment of the dossier," read thenote, which was shown to the inquiry.
Separate documents revealed that the top civil servant atBritain's Ministry of Defence had said at a meeting in Blair'soffice one week earlier that some of Kelly's views would beawkward for the government.
"If he was summoned to give evidence, some of it might beuncomfortable on specifics such as the likelihood of there beingweapons systems ready for use within 45 minutes," the defencecivil servant said at the meeting.
Mr Blair's claim that Iraq could deploy chemical or biologicalweapons at 45 minutes' notice was the most dramatic part of hisSeptember 2002 dossier aimed at winning support for a war mostBritons opposed.
But four months after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, noweapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.
The absence of weapons - along with Dr Kelly's suicide - hasundermined trust in Mr Blair's government and created the worstcrisis of his six-year tenure.
An ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday showed 52Per cent of the public trust neither the government nor the BBCto tell the truth and that only six per cent trust Mr Blair'sadministration more than the public broadcaster.