Blair Condoles over Death of Arms Adviser in Iraq Dossier Row

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, July 20, 2003

Blair Condoles over Death of Arms Adviser in Iraq Dossier Row

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British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed condolences on Saturday over the death of an arms adviser, who was speculated as the possible source for a BBC report on government's "sexed up" evidence over Iraq.

"This is an absolutely terrible tragedy. I am profoundly sad for David Kelly and his family," said Blair, who is on an Asian trip to Japan, South Korea and China.

"I hope that we can set aside the speculation and the claims and the counter-claims and allow that due process to take its proper course," he said before addressing business leaders in Tokyo.

Blair also asked "politicians and media alike to show some respect and restraint."

Kelly, 59, who works for the British Ministry of Defense, went missing from his home at about 1400 GMT on Thursday.

A police search team found a body matching the description of Kelly in a woodland at Harrowdown Hill, about five miles from Kelly's home in southern England, on Friday morning.

Earlier this week, Kelly denied being the BBC's main source for its radio report that claimed Downing Street had "sexed up" a dossier issued last September, which boasted Saddam Hussein could deploy chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes.

The report sparked a political row over the British government's handling of the intelligence about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the Iraq war.

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