LONDON (voa) – British police have confirmed that a Defense Ministry weapons expert embroiled in a controversy over intelligence about Iraq took his own life. Police in London said Saturday, 59-year-old David Kelly died after slashing his left wrist.
His body was found Friday near his home, with a knife and an open package of a prescription painkiller nearby. Police said there was no indication any other person was involved. In Tokyo Saturday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the death a terrible tragedy as he implored the media and politicians to end speculation and allow a judicial inquiry to take its course.
Mr. Blair declined to answer a blunt question about whether the death weighed on his conscience and whether he, or any members of his government, might resign.
The New York Times quoted the widow of the weapons expert Saturday, as saying her husband had been under enormous stress, but had given no hint of suicidal tendency.
Kelly, 59, had been fingered as the unnamed intelligence official who had told BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan in May that Downing Street had “sexed up” a September 2002 dossier on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction in order to beef up the case for joining the United States in war against Saddam Hussein.
Tuesday, Mr. Kelly denied to British lawmakers being the source of a controversial BBC report that the government had exaggerated intelligence about Iraqi weapons to strengthen its case for war. Mr. Kelly did admit having met BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan, who aired the report.
Mr. Gilligan appeared before the lawmakers Thursday, but refused to divulge his source. Members of Parliament said he retracted some of his allegations, but he denied that, saying the grilling he was given amounted to an ambush.
The original report generated a sharp political dispute between the BBC and the British government, which accused the broadcaster of setting aside its standards of impartiality because of an anti-war agenda. BBC says it stands by its report.
