In a major relief to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a judge on Wednesday cleared his government of any direct involvement in the death of weapons expert David Kelly.
Judge Brian Hutton in his 328-page report said he was satisfied that Dr Kelly had killed himself after being named as the source of a BBC report that said the government 'sexed up' its dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction before the US-led invasion in March last year.
The judge highlighted "defective" BBC editorial processes and said: "I consider that editorial system which the BBC permits was defective in that [correspondent Andrew] Gilligan was allowed to broadcast his report...without editors having seen a script of what he was going to say and without having considered whether it should be approved."
The judge said BBC governors should have properly investigated Downing Street complaints as they defended the Corporation's independence. "The BBC management was at fault...in failing to investigate properly the government's complaint" that the report was false, he said.
Speaking in the House of Commons, an elated Blair said the report showed "the allegation that I or anybody else lied to the House or deliberately misled the country by falsifying intelligence on weapons of mass destruction is itself the real lie.
"I simply ask that those that have made it [the allegation] and repeated it over all these months now withdraw it fully, openly and clearly," he said.
Blair said the report was an extraordinarily thorough, detailed and clear document. "It leaves no room for doubt or interpretation. We accept it in full."
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