Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 29, 2004
UK judge clears Blair of wrongdoing in Kelly's death
British senior judge Brian Hutton has cleared the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair ofany dishonorable behavior in the death of government weapons adviser David Kelly as he published Wednesday the final report of his inquiry into the death of the arms expert.
British senior judge Brian Hutton has cleared the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair ofany dishonorable behavior in the death of government weapons adviser David Kelly as he published Wednesday the final report of his inquiry into the death of the arms expert.
"I am satisfied that none of the persons whose decisions and actions I later describe ever contemplated that Dr. Kelly might take his own life. I'm further satisfied that none of those persons was at fault in not contemplating that Dr. Kelly might take his own life," Hutton said in a televised statement on his inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.
The allegation reported by BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan that the British government probably knew the claim that Iraq could launch weapons of mass destruction attack within 45 minutes of an order was wrong or questionable was"unfounded," Hutton said on Wednesday. Hutton said that the BBC editorial system was defective and the broadcaster failed to investigate the government complaints during the row over the Iraqi intelligence, which led to the suicide of a government weapons adviser.
Hutton made the remarks as he published the final report on the inquiry into the events leading to the death of government weapons adviser David Kelly.