Fw: Dr David Kelly's apparent Suicide ...

[Guest guest]

..

 

 

> PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS FAR AND WIDE!

>

> http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/uk.cfm?id=785632003

>

> SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

> Sunday, 20th July 2003

>

> Gloves off in village that wants answers on death

>

> IAN JOHNSTON

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

> SOUTHMOOR is one of those English country villages which fits the

> description tranquil like a glove. Yesterday, the gloves were off.

>

> Prime Minister Tony Blair and Downing Street spokesman Alastair Campbell

> were top of the list of those who the villagers wanted to cross-examine

over

> the death of one of their own - David Kelly, known by most as Dai because

of

> his Welsh background.

>

> Gamble, who knew Kelly since he and his wife, Jan, first arrived in

> the Oxfordshire community 20 years ago, said she was furious at the

pressure

> the quiet civil servant had been put under after coming forward to say he

> thought he might be the BBC’s mole.

>

> " I think they picked on him, " she said.

>

> " I’m very angry and I think they have killed him as I think most of the

> village do.

>

> " The awful grilling he went through before the Commons committee, I think

> that was wicked. It’s time Campbell went and I think Blair should follow

> him, although it won’t bring Dai back. "

>

> Before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Davis’ hands could be seen shaking

and

> the terrible pressure that he was under was visible.

>

> " Somebody is trying to make it look like the government were right to go

to

> war in Iraq, " Gamble added.

>

> " They’ve got to find some excuse to make it right to have gone to war.

> Blair has a lot to answer for. If I had him here I would grill him and

make

> him squirm, going round doing that to ordinary people like Dai. "

>

> She said no one in the village could believe that Kelly had actually

killed

> himself.

>

> " He was a real family man. He was a very private person but he would often

> give me a lift into Oxford if I was waiting for the bus. He was a very

> friendly and pleasant man. "

>

> Gamble said that last Wednesday night, the day before Kelly went missing,

> his wife had been due to attend a village history society meeting but

phoned

> to say she couldn’t make it as they were going to Cornwall.

>

> However, the Kellys’ plan to get away from the fuss in London never came

to

> pass as the following evening Jan Kelly reported her husband missing when

he

> failed to return home.

>

> Villagers yesterday painted the Kelly family as one that was very much

part

> of the local community. Despite her arthritis, Jan played an active part

in

> village life in Southmoor as a member of the historic society and Women’s

> Institute. She also helped produce the local newsletter.

>

> Kelly himself, when he could drag himself away from his vegetable patch,

> would often be seen walking from one end of the village to the other to

his

> favourite pub, the Hinds Head, where he was a member of the local cribbage

> team.

>

> Steve Ward, the landlord, said he had been close to tears when he heard

how

> Kelly, a customer he knew as a friend, had killed himself. " That was so

> unlike David. He was so sensible and so level-headed and he had a lovely

> wife and lovely family, " he said.

>

> " He was a great guy. He’d have a laugh and a joke with you. He’d have a

> giggle, but never anything over the top. "

>

> Ward was visibly angry over Kelly’s death and was among those in the

village

> who were suspicious of Blair’s role in the affair.

>

> " I hope Tony Blair can live with this on his conscience, " he said. " If

this

> is what the government can do to a straightforward honest member of the

> public, then I really don’t know. Somebody, somewhere was responsible for

> his death.

>

> " But I don’t think we will ever get to the bottom of this, we won’t be

> allowed to.

>

> " I hope to God this brings Tony Blair down and brings an end to this

bloody

> government spin. Whoever has driven David to do this, I hope it stays on

> their consciences for the rest of their lives. "

>

> Just along the road from the Kelly household lives Leslie Cowan, a

> 76-year-old retired engineer who now edits the local newsletter. The KBS

> News, as it is known, is run by an editorial committee that includes Jan

> Kelly.

>

> Under its constitution, it is not allowed to get involved in any political

> or religious issues. But this week’s editorial will demand the truth about

> the circumstances that led to Kelly’s death. It will say that truth and

> honesty were the basic disciplines of scientists such as Kelly.

>

> " We believe that Dr Kelly knew what was true in regard to the Iraq

situation

> but we don’t know what that truth was or is, " the newsletter will say.

" What

> we do know - what history teaches us - is that truth is not always well

> liked and those who stand up for it are frequently not well treated. Now

it

> has brought tragedy and dismay to our village. "

>

> Yesterday, the woodland fringe where Kelly’s body was found was still

> cordoned off as police forensics teams went about their work.

>

> The hedge-bounded path leading up towards Harrowdown Hill had returned to

> the gentle buzz of hoverflies and the sound of songbirds.

>

> It is a popular walkway for those seeking to escape from modern pressures.

>

> One dog walker said: " It is one of those places that feels more isolated

> than it is. You’re only ten miles from Oxford, but it feels like 50.

>

> " It’s one of the those places where you can enjoy the peace of the world. "

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

> Blair tries to rein in Kelly judge over scope of inquiry

> By Toby Helm and Andrew Sparrow

> (Filed: 22/07/2003)

>

>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/07/22/nkell22.xml &

sSheet=/news/2003/07/22/ixnewstop.html

>

>

> Tony Blair was on collision course last night with the judge he has

> appointed to investigate the death of Dr David Kelly over the scope of his

> inquiry.

>

> The Prime Minister appeared to contradict Lord Hutton, the 72-year-old

> judge, who insisted yesterday that he would determine which areas he

> investigated.

>

> In a statement setting out his objectives, Lord Hutton said his remit was

> " urgently to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the

death

> of Dr Kelly " .

>

> But, asserting his independence, he added: " I make it clear that it will

be

> for me to decide as I think right within my terms of reference the matters

> which will be the subject of my investigation. "

>

> Shortly afterwards Mr Blair, speaking in Beijing on the latest leg of his

> Far East tour, said he would " co-operate fully " with the inquiry. If

> necessary he would break off from his holiday in Barbados to give

evidence.

>

> But he said: " It is important that he [Lord Hutton] does what we asked him

> to do. I do not think it would be sensible to do any more. " He rejected

> calls to extend the inquiry to look at the wider argument of whether the

> Government exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussein's weapons.

>

> Calls for Lord Hutton to have the widest possible remit were supported by

> Opposition leaders and anti-war Labour MPs. They said it would be

impossible

> for the inquiry to establish the truth behind Dr Kelly's apparent suicide

> without looking into questions of how the Government built its case for

war

> in Iraq.

>

> Dr Kelly, 59, a weapons expert employed by the Ministry of Defence, who

had

> worked extensively in Iraq, was found dead last Friday five miles from his

> Oxfordshire home. His left wrist had been slit.

>

> The BBC confirmed at the weekend that Dr Kelly had been the main source

for

> a contentious report in which Andrew Gilligan, a defence correspondent for

> Radio 4's Today, alleged that Downing Street had " sexed up " a dossier on

> Iraq to strengthen the case for war.

>

> After police confirmed the scientist's death, the Prime Minister

immediately

> set up the judicial inquiry under Lord Hutton. The Tories said they feared

> Mr Blair was blocking the wider inquiry necessary to establish the truth

> behind the apparent suicide.

>

> They want a full public inquiry that would look into Gilligan's claims

that

> intelligence services were uneasy about how Downing Street was presenting

> the case for war. Oliver Letwin, the shadow home secretary, described Mr

> Blair's behaviour as " disturbing " .

>

> " No sooner do we have reassuring indications from Lord Hutton that his

> inquiry will be as wide-ranging as he feels it needs to be than we hear

from

> the Prime Minister that he wishes it to be as circumscribed as possible.

> Surely, by now, the Government must have learned the virtue of genuine

> transparency. "

>

> Robin Cook, the former foreign secretary, said it would be difficult to

> conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to the

death

> without probing " some of the prior issues " which Dr Kelly discussed with

> Gilligan.

>

> Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, said " all hell would break

> loose " if the Government made life difficult for Lord Hutton. " Woe betide

> any minister or civil servant or any political adviser who tries to put

> roadblocks in his way. "

>

> The Opposition parties want Lord Hutton to establish why the Government

> allowed Dr Kelly's name to leak to the press.

>

> Mr Blair's official spokesman played down any dispute over the inquiry.

" The

> terms of reference are there and the terms of reference, as he says, are

> urgently to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding

the

> death of Dr David Kelly. It is up to him how to conduct the inquiry. "

>

> As the BBC stood by Gilligan's story, Clare Short, the former

international

> development secretary, said Government attacks on the corporation were a

> deliberate " distraction " from the issue of why Mr Blair led the country to

> war.

>

> " This is all a smokescreen. There has to be an inquiry about the pressures

> brought on Dr Kelly. This assault on the BBC is just a complete

distraction

> from the main questions about how we got to war in Iraq. "

>

> Peter Mandelson, a key ally of the Prime Minister, attacked the BBC's

" crass

> error " in standing by Gilligan.

>

> 21 July 2003: BBC decision to confirm source is an attempt to end

> speculation

> 21 July 2003: Voters pile blame on Blair

> 19 July 2003: Death of the dossier fall guy

> 18 June 2003: Blair misled us all, say ex-ministers

>

>

> Next story: BBC tried to protect 'mole', says Dyke

>

> Related reports

>

> Leader: The truth about Dr Kelly

>

> Hutton will rely on persuasion

>

> Baha'i funeral for Kelly

>

> External links

>

> Press briefing [21 July '03] - 10 Downing Street

>

> Government confirms inquiry following death of Dr Kelly [19 Jul '03] -

> Ministry of Defence

>

> Conservatives press for wider ranging inquiry [21 Jul '03] - Conservative

> Party

>

> Today - BBC Radio 4

>

> Oral evidence presented by Dr David Kelly [15 Jul '03] - UK Parliament

>

> Who should take the blame? [21 Jul '03] - Stop the War Coalition

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

> http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4187.htm

>

> Mind your language!

>

> A crisis of confidence is in the making. Yet one can see the logic of it,

as

> the enquiry into the illegal invasion of Iraq has all but vanished, but

not

> for long. Lord Hutton, the judge selected for the judicial enquiry into

the

> Kelly affair has already forced Tony Blah to eat his words by saying in no

> uncertain terms that he’ll enquire into whatever and wherever he wants, in

> order to get to the reasons behind Kelly’s death.

>

> William Bowles

>

> 07/22/03: So we have the ironic situation of BBC News reporting on it own

> unreliability. Can the news be trusted? What is the future of public

> broadcasting and so on. Yet of course, the nature of the lack of trust in

> the state media is entirely misdirected. It’s okay that the coverage of

the

> war and the reasons for it, are, as a matter of course, misreported, but

as

> soon as the media gets too close to reporting the real reasons, the roof

> falls in! Meanwhile on ITV News, which obviously doesn’t watch the other

> channels, on which the end of civilisation as we know it was being

> predicted, it was peddling the months old and totally discredited Jessica

> Lynch ‘rescue’ story as if it were ‘news’. Even the BBC’s Radio 4 news

seems

> to think it’s news, as Lynch, who claims not to remember a single thing

> about her experience (and very convenient that she doesn’t) tells us about

> her return to her home town in West Virginia.

>

> The most damning indictments of the BBC have come in the form of various

and

> sundry spokespeople for the state, with looks of real alarm verging on

> panic, telling us that the worst thing of all was happening, namely, that

> the citizenry no longer trust the state’s media let alone the government

> (only one in five trust the Blah)! Plainly this is not the sort of thing

we

> need in a modern democracy. It’s one thing for the majority of of the

voting

> population not bothering to vote but it’s quite another if they lose all

> trust in the propaganda machine to keep them properly sedated.

>

> A crisis of confidence is in the making. Yet one can see the logic of it,

as

> the enquiry into the illegal invasion of Iraq has all but vanished, but

not

> for long. Lord Hutton, the judge selected for the judicial enquiry into

the

> Kelly affair has already forced Tony Blah to eat his words by saying in no

> uncertain terms that he’ll enquire into whatever and wherever he wants, in

> order to get to the reasons behind Kelly’s death. This in spite of Blah’s

> edict issued while he was at a party in Tienmen Square, Beijing, that the

> enquiry restrict itself to Kelly’s suicide and not the reasons for the

> invasion. Which means of course, that the judge will want to know if the

> story reported by the BBC’s Andrew Gilligan is true or not, given its

> centrality to Kelly’s death. It remains to be seen if Hutton will be true

to

> his word or not.

>

> Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, the BBC (and apparently its critics)

had

> no problem with the total misreporting of the situation in Liberia, where

> Fergal Keane, globetrotting seeker after disasters in the ‘Terminal World’

,

> gave us the usual guided tour of misery, child soldiers, gangsters in

> designer shades and told us (according to Keane anyway) that Liberians

> wanted to know why the Americans weren’t coming to save them! This was the

> ‘news’ from Liberia where, he told us, the barbarism was bad " even by

> African standards " !

>

> But why is the BBC’s ‘credibility’ on the line? On the one hand, it has

the

> mandate to " inform and educate " and report the news with " impartiality,

> integrity and fairness, " whatever that means, and herein lies the rub, as

> impartial in the state’s terms means maintaining the status quo.

Translated,

> this means treading a fine line between reporting the ‘truth’ impartially

as

> its board of governers interpret the word (the board, by the way, includes

> the former head of MI5) but when reporting the ‘truth’ means reporting the

> overwhelming evidence that the government has consistently lied to its

> citizens, being ‘impartial’ becomes a loaded word that no longer belongs

in

> its lexicon. Suddenly, the BBC is carrying out a " vendetta " against the

> government, obviously for ‘political’ reasons. The courageous ‘seekers

after

> truth’ have become a liability. The fiction of the free flow of

information

> is exposed for what is is, a sophisticated con job.

>

> At the root of the contradiction is the fact that the political class and

> the professional classes share a common world view which is everything but

> impartial. Educated at the same universities, sharing the same values,

they

> are ultimately interchangeable as indeed the reality shows, as journalists

> become politicians and politicians become journalists with boring

> predictability. They share a common language and have a vested interest in

> maintaining a stable social reality, hence the looks of alarm as their

> carefully constructed world crumbles. It’s no coincidence that the Kelly

> affair has elicited cries of a " crisis of confidence " in the institutions

of

> the state if the enquiry after the ‘truth’ is allowed to continue

unchecked.

> As I write, I hear the professional pundits telling us " let’s get together

> and reconsider " after all, " a good man’s died, " he was a " good sort " and

so

> on. " Getting together " in this context means, ‘okay, it’s gone far enough,

> it’s time to reestablish the comfortable symbiosis that exists between the

> state and the mass media.’ I’ve not heard or read a single report that

> comments on the fact that critical, investigative reporting is a sign of a

> healthy and vibrant democracy, nor of course, do I expect one. After all,

> there are limits. But caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place,

> both the BBC and the state will, in all likelyhood, call a truce before

the

> situation gets completely out of hand and agree to disagree. New ‘rules of

> engagement’ will no doubt be laid down that defines what’s legitimate

> ‘impartiality’ and what’s not.

>

> There is a lot at stake. The Iraq invasion has revealed the deep

> contradictions that exist between the reality of an imperialist state

> involved in a disastrous adventure gone wrong, and the carefully crafted

> construction that presents the British state as being based on "

> impartiality, integrity and fairness " to paraphrase its mouthpiece, the

BBC.

> There are clearly limits as the events of the past few days has revealed.

> That the death of one man, an insignificant cog in the wheel of the state

> bureacracy, could upset the applecart, points to the deep vulnerability of

> imperialism in this new epoch. It seems the ‘enemy within’ is not Al-Qu’

eda

> but the truth.

>

> 2003 William Bowles. All rights reserved. You have the right

to

> reproduce if it is for not-for-profit, non-commercial or ‘fair use’. For

> commercial reproduction, please contact the copyright owner.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

> http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/politics.cfm?id=788752003

>

> Kelly family come to terms with suicide

>

> CRAIG BROWN

>

>

> THE acknowledgement that Dr David Kelly was the BBC mole and Andrew

Gilligan

> ’s claim that he did not misquote or misrepresent his words leaves awkward

> questions for the weapons expert’s grieving family.

>

> His wife, Janice, and three daughters were yesterday being comforted at a

> service at Southmoor Methodist Church in Oxfordshire, close to the Kelly

> family home.

>

> The awkward questions may wait, but in time they will be asked. If Dr

Kelly

> was the source, and was not misrepresented, then it is possible that he

may

> have held back some information when he appeared before the foreign

affairs

> select committee. Did he tell Mr Gilligan too much, then regret it? Did he

> mention Alastair Campbell or not? Did his words, even if not used

directly,

> lead Mr Gilligan to conclude he was being told the dossier was " sexed up " ?

>

> A weapons expert educated at Oxford, Dr Kelly was a religious man who

> followed the Baha’i faith, which rejects suicide in any circumstances.

> Yesterday, Barnabas Leith, the secretary of the national assembly of the

> Baha’is in the UK, said the religion condemned suicide but that God was

> " merciful " to those who had suffered.

>

> Dr Kelly, who took painkillers and slashed his left wrist at a beauty-spot

> close to his home in Southmoor on Friday after telling his family he was

> going for a walk, converted to the pacifist faith - which has 6,000

> adherents in the UK - four years ago while in the US. He regularly

attended

> local gatherings in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

>

> Mr Leith said: " The true position is that the Baha’i teachings strongly

> condemn suicide. Baha’is believe that the soul of the individual comes

ever

> closer to God in the life after death. Those who take their own lives risk

> damaging their soul in the life hereafter.

>

> " But this does not mean they cease to be Baha’is. And Baha’is believe that

> God is always merciful to those who have suffered in this life. Baha’is

> throughout the world are praying for the progress of David Kelly’s soul. "

>

> Mr Leith said Baha’is did not have a regular weekly meeting but members

> would be praying for Dr Kelly, his wife, eldest daughter Sian, 32, and

twins

> Ellen and Rachel, 30.

>

> Residents were also praying for Dr Kelly at St Mary’s Church in his

> neighbouring village of Longworth, near the site where his body was found

on

> Harrowdown Hill. The Rev Joe Cotterill, said Mrs Kelly attended occasional

> services at the 13th century church.

>

> In his sermon, Mr Cotterill asked the congregation of 18 people to pray

for

> the family and all those involved with the tragedy, and to ask God to give

> them " courage and hope " . He said after the service: " I’m not sure people

> here are coming to terms with Dr Kelly’s death. It’s more a matter of

asking

> why, why, why?

>

> " There is grief and sadness, for Janice Kelly and the children but

> particularly for Mrs Kelly who is afflicted with arthritis. "

>

> He said he mentioned the Kellys in his sermon because it was the church’s

> duty to deal with events in the " outside world " and to help the community.

> " It’s part of the church’s purpose to go out and express sympathy and love

> for those who are suffering, " he said.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

>

>

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=B68DC98F-361C-4BD1-9135400FC7867

5DE

>

> British Judge to Decide Scope of Suicide Investigation

> VOA News

> 21 Jul 2003, 14:48 UTC

>

>

> The chairman of the official British inquiry into the death of weapons

> expert David Kelly says he himself will decide on the extent and scope of

> the probe, which will be held mostly in public.

>

> Mr. Kelly was found dead Thursday in an apparent suicide. His death came

> amid controversy over a British Broadcasting Corporation report that the

> government exaggerated the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to

> strengthen its case for war.

>

> Opposition politicians have called on the inquiry chairman - Lord Brian

> Hutton - to expand his investigation to cover whether the British

government

> did in fact exaggerate the threat. Prime Minister Tony Blair said his

> government will cooperate with the inquiry but that it should be limited

to

> the death of David Kelly.

>

> The BBC said Sunday Mr. Kelly was the main source for its story. Mr. Kelly

> had appeared before lawmakers Tuesday and admitted having met with a BBC

> reporter, but denied being the source for the claim of exaggeration.

>

> Lord Hutton, one of the Law Lords on Britain's highest court of appeal,

said

> he will decide as he thinks right and proper what matters to investigate.

He

> said the inquiry will be conducted mostly in public and will begin as soon

> as possible.

>

> Prime Minister Blair, now in Beijing, China, has said he will not recall

> parliament over the recent developments, which have mushroomed into the

> biggest political crisis of Mr. Blair's career.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

> http://uk.news./030719/323/e4k58.html

>

> Saturday July 19, 02:45 PM

>

>

>

> British weapons expert bled to death from slashed wrist: police

>

> LONDON (AFP) - The British weapons expert at the centre of a row over the

> British government's Iraq arms dossier bled to death after apparently

> slashing his own wrist, police said.

>

> After confirming that a body found Friday west of London had been formally

> identified as that of defence official David Kelly, a Thames Valley police

> spokesman said there was no evidence anyone else was involved.

>

> " The cause of death was haemhoragging from a wound to his left wrist, " the

> police spokesman said.

>

> " The injury is consistent with having been caused by a bladed object.

>

> " We have recovered a knife and an open packet of (painkilling) Co-Proxymol

> tablets at the scene. Whilst our inquiries are continuing there is no

> indication at this stage of any other party being involved. "

>

> Kelly, 59, was a Ministry of Defence consultant on biological weapons and

> former UN arms inspector in Iraq.

>

> His body was found in a wooded area near his home in Oxfordshire on

Friday,

> a day after he was reported missing by his family.

>

> His disappearance came two days after he denied being the source of a BBC

> report that a February dossier on weapons of mass destruction, which was

> used to justified the war in Iraq had been " sexed up " by British

government

> officials.

>

> Prime Minister Tony Blair, currently in Japan, has promised a judicial

> inquiry into Kelly's death.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3080795.stm

>

> Kelly 'warned of dark actors' games'

>

>

> Dr Kelly's e-mail gave no indication he was depressed

>

> Iraq weapons expert Dr David Kelly reportedly warned of " many dark actors

> playing games " in an e-mail sent hours before he bled to death from a

> slashed wrist.

>

> The message, sent to a journalist, appeared to refer to officials within

the

> Ministry of Defence and British intelligence agencies with whom he had

> sparred over interpretations of weapons reports, according to the New York

> Times.

>

> Dr Kelly disappeared two days after being questioned by the Commons

foreign

> affairs select committee.

>

> But his e-mail gave no indication he was depressed and said he was waiting

> " until the end of the week " before judging how his appearance before the

> committee had gone, the newspaper said.

>

> The 59-year-old had told MPs he had spoken to BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan

> but did not think he was the main source for his report that Downing

Street

> communications director Alastair Campbell " sexed up " a dossier setting out

> the case for war in Iraq.

>

> His body was found at 0920 BST on Friday in a wooded area at Harrowdown

> Hill, near Faringdon.

>

> Two days later BBC director of news Richard Sambrook revealed that the

> scientist had been the principal source for Mr Gilligan's report.

>

> 'Stress'

>

> On Thursday, before leaving his Oxfordshire home for the last time, Dr

Kelly

> had worked on a report he said he owed the Foreign Office and sent some

> e-mails to friends, his wife, Janice, told the New York Times.

>

> The newspaper said a second e-mail, sent by Dr Kelly to an associate, was

> " combative " .

>

> In it, the Ministry of Defence adviser said he was determined to overcome

> the scandal surrounding him and was enthusiastic about the possibility of

> returning to Iraq.

>

> Mrs Kelly told the paper her husband had been under enormous stress " as we

> all had been " , but she had no indication he was contemplating suicide.

>

> Police investigating Dr Kelly's death have taken away his home computer

for

> examination.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/20/international/worldspecial/20KELL.html?ex=

10592%2078400 & amp;en=feb83d7800250089 & amp;ei=5062 & amp;partner=GOOGLE

>

> Blair Calls Weapons Expert's Suicide a Tragedy

> By WARREN HOGE

>

>

> LONDON, July 19 — Prime Minister Tony Blair said today that the suicide of

> the British weapons expert Dr. David Kelly was " an absolutely terrible

> tragedy, " and he appealed for politicians and the press to end speculation

> about the causes of it while a judicial inquiry proceeded.

>

> Dr. Kelly's body was found Friday morning on a footpath five miles from

his

> Oxfordshire home. His wife, Jan, said on Friday that he had committed

> suicide.

>

> The Thames Valley Police announced this afternoon that he had bled to

death

> after cutting his left wrist. They reported recovering a knife and a

package

> of painkilling pills at the scene.

>

> The police would not discuss whether there was any note or other

> explanation, but his wife said Friday that she had had no indication he

was

> contemplating suicide when he left his home in the village of Southmoor

> Thursday afternoon, saying he was going for a walk.

>

> Mr. Blair made his remarks in Hakone, Japan, where he was having talks

with

> Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

>

> Dr. Kelly, 59, was a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq and a

> senior adviser to the Ministry of Defense on weapons of mass destruction.

> Accustomed to working behind the scenes, he became caught up in a highly

> publicized dispute over the validity of arms intelligence in a dossier

> published by the government last September to overcome Britons' opposition

> to the war.

>

> Dr. Kelly had been singled out by the government as the likely source for

a

> BBC report in late May that Downing Street inserted a claim exaggerating

the

> threat of Saddam Hussein's weapons into the document justifying Britain's

> push for military action in Iraq.

>

> The government considered the report deeply damaging and has conducted a

> campaign against the BBC seeking to disprove the account and obtain both a

> retraction and an apology. The public service broadcaster has stood behind

> the claim and demanded a government apology.

>

> In early July, Dr. Kelly told his managers in the Defense Ministry that he

> had met with the BBC reporter in question and might be the anonymous

> security official cited by the broadcaster as its source. He said he could

> deny that he had made the claim at the center of the report that the

> government was responsible for inserting evidence that Iraq had chemical

and

> biological weapons deployable in 45 minutes into the document.

>

> The government apparently saw in Dr. Kelly an opportunity to embarrass the

> BBC. Dr. Kelly was hauled before a parliamentary committee on foreign

> affairs where on Tuesday he was subjected to badgering questions that left

> him visibly uncomfortable.

>

> In an e-mail message to a reporter for The New York Times shortly before

he

> left on his walk Thursday, Dr. Kelly discussed his appearance before the

> committee and referred to " many dark actors playing games. "

>

> Mr. Blair, struggling to contain what is shaping up as a major crisis for

> his government, appeared grim and tired at today's news conference. He was

> questioned about whether the crisis would cause him or any of his top

aides

> to resign and asked if he felt he had " blood on his hands. "

>

> He answered: " I hope we can set aside the speculation and the claims and

the

> counterclaims and allow that due process to take its proper course. And in

> the meantime, all of us, the politicians and the media alike, should show

> some respect and restraint. "

>

> News of the death came a day after Mr. Blair made a speech before a joint

> meeting of Congress in Washington that aides hoped might still the raging

> debate here over whether Britain manipulated intelligence files to justify

> the war in Iraq.

>

> Instead, with Dr. Kelly's suicide, the focus of political debate has

> returned to the subject and to the aspect of it where polls show Mr.

Blair's

> government is most vulnerable: a reputation for spinning information to

its

> own advantage.

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3081027.stm

>

> BBC says Kelly was weapons source

>

> The BBC has disclosed that Dr David Kelly was the principal source for its

> controversial report claiming Downing Street " sexed up " an Iraq weapons

> dossier.

>

> BBC director of news Richard Sambrook broke the news after speaking to the

> family of the Iraq weapons expert, who was found dead on Friday.

>

> He said the corporation believed it correctly interpreted and reported the

> information obtained from Dr Kelly during interviews.

>

> BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan, the author of the report, added that Dr

> Kelly had not been " misquoted or misrepresented " .

>

> Mr Sambrook said the BBC had, until now, owed Dr Kelly a duty of

> confidentiality and was " profoundly sorry " that his involvement as the

> source for the reports had ended in tragedy.

>

> Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking as he left Korea for China, said: " I

am

> pleased that the BBC has made this announcement. Whatever the differences,

> no one wanted this tragedy to happen.

>

> Dr Kelly expressed very similar concerns about Downing Street

interpretation

> of intelligence in the dossier and the unreliability of the 45-minute

point

> to Newsnight.

>

> Andrew Gilligan

> BBC journalist

>

> Full text of BBC statements

>

> " I know that everyone, including the BBC, have been shocked by it. The

> independent Hutton Inquiry has been set up, it will establish the facts.

>

> " In the meantime our attitude should be one of respect and restraint, no

> recrimination, with the Kelly family uppermost in our minds at this time. "

>

> Earlier Mr Blair said he would accept responsibility for all the actions

of

> government ministers and officials, but ruled out recalling Parliament.

>

> Police confirmed on Saturday Dr Kelly, a senior Ministry of Defence

adviser,

> had bled to death from a cut to his wrist.

>

> 'Not source'

>

> In an e-mail reportedly sent to a New York Times journalist hours before

his

> death, Dr Kelly had apparently warned of " many dark actors playing games " .

>

> The Sunday Times says Dr Kelly told one of its reporters that he felt

> betrayed by the leaking of his name by the Ministry of Defence and was

under

> " intolerable " pressure by being placed at the centre of the weapons row.

>

> In the end the government is my responsibility and I can assure you the

> judge will be able to get to what facts, what people, what papers he wants

>

> Tony Blair

> Prime minister

>

> Last week Dr Kelly had told MPs he had spoken to Mr Gilligan, but said he

> did not believe he was the main source for a story about claims that a

> dossier on Iraq had been " sexed up " to boost public support for military

> action.

>

> He told the MPs: " From the conversation I had I don't see how he could

make

> the authoritative statement he was making from the comments I made. "

>

> According to television journalist Tom Mangold, a friend, Dr Kelly

believed

> he was the source for about 60% of Mr Gilligan's report.

>

> Responsibility

>

> The government has set up an independent judicial inquiry, led by Lord

> Hutton, into the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's death. Both Mr Blair

> and the BBC have said they will cooperate fully.

>

> The BBC statement prompted Dr Kelly's local MP, Tory Robert Jackson, to

call

> for the resignation of the BBC chairman Gavyn Davies.

>

> Ex-Labour minister Glenda Jackson has called for Tony Blair to quit,

saying

> the blame for Dr Kelly's death lay with Downing Street, which, she said,

> used a battle with the BBC to divert attention from the failure to find

> weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

>

> Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has called for Parliament to be recalled and

> for a broadening of the inquiry to investigate the government's handling

of

> intelligence on Iraq.

>

> But the prime minister told Sky News' Sunday With Adam Boulton programme

> that a recall of Parliament would " generate more heat than light " and that

> Dr Kelly's family should be allowed time to grieve.

>

> Mr Blair said he would take responsibility for the actions of officials

such

> as his communications director Alastair Campbell: " In the end the

government

> is my responsibility and I can assure you the judge will be able to get to

> what facts, what people, what papers he wants. "

>

> He added: " At the present time this is far more something to do with the

> personal tragedy of Dr Kelly and I think that's actually what should be

> uppermost in our minds and has been in mine. "

>

> Asked if he had the appetite to go on as prime minister, Mr Blair replied:

> " Absolutely. "

>

>

> Obsession

>

> Dr Kelly's family said he was a " loving, private and dignified " man and

> appealed for time to grieve.

>

> His body was discovered in woodland near his Oxfordshire home on Friday

> morning, with a knife and a packet of painkillers close by.

>

> Events over recent weeks made David's life intolerable and all of those

> involved should reflect long and hard on this fact

>

> Kelly family statement

>

> Statement in full

>

> Richard Butler, former chief UN weapons inspector, said it appeared the

> British, American and Australian governments had " pumped up " the threat in

> the run-up to war.

>

> Mr Butler told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend that Dr Kelly, a

friend

> and colleague, was a " good man... of probity and integrity " .

>

> " It follows logically from that, if he thought that things were being

pumped

> up, he would have objected to it. "

>

> Dr Kelly is survived by his wife, Janice, and three daughters Sian, 32,

and

> 30-year-old twins Rachel and Ellen.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

> http://www.cryptogon.com/index.html

>

> Microbiology: The Most Dangerous Area of Inquiry in the World :.

>

> In case you haven't noticed, the world's top microbiologists are dying.

>

> The MURDER of David Kelly in Britain brings the total of dead experts in

> microbiology to thirteen. To call Kelly's death a suicide is complete

folly.

> See my entry on Israel's Kidon.

>

> Kidon is the Mossad's elite political assassination team that specializes

in

> suicides. While I'm not saying that Kidon did or did not murder Kelly,

Kidon

> is known to have been in Britain. The story was that they were executing

> individuals associated with Muslim extremism.

>

> Leland Rickman of University of California, San Diego was number twelve.

The

> previous eleven deaths are detailed here. I would also add SAIC analyst

> Christopher Legallo and potentially MD/microbiologist/lawyer Jeffrey Paris

> Wall and FBI analyst Linda Franklin to the list.

>

> Why are these people dying? Your guess is as good as mine:

>

> Kelly was the Ministry of Defence's chief scientific officer and senior

> adviser to the proliferation and arms control secretariat, and to the

> Foreign Office's non-proliferation department. The senior adviser on

> biological weapons to the UN biological weapons inspections teams (Unscom)

> from 1994 to 1999, he was also, in the opinion of his peers, pre-eminent

in

> his field, not only in this country, but in the world.

>

> Update: Kelly Was Eager to Get Back to Work :.

>

> From C4 News:

>

> Just yesterday in an email to a friend he expressed a desire to return to

> the job that meant so much to him. " Hopefully it will soon pass " he wrote

> " and I can get to Baghdad and get on with the real work. "

>

> Update: Kelly Email to New York Times Minutes Before His Death :.

>

> " many dark actors playing games. "

>

> More: The Sudden and Suspicious Deaths of 11, 12, 13 of the World's

Leading

> Microbiologists

>

> Who they were:

>

> 1. Nov. 12, 2001:

>

> Benito Que was said to have been beaten in a Miami parking lot and died

> later.

>

> 2. Nov. 16, 2001:

>

> Don C. Wiley went missing. Was found Dec. 20. Investigators said he got

> dizzy on a Memphis bridge and fell to his death in a river.

>

> 3. Nov. 21, 2001:

>

> Vladimir Pasechnik, former high-level Russian microbiologist who defected

in

> 1989 to the U.K. apparently died from a stroke.

>

> 4. Dec. 10, 2001:

>

> Robert M. Schwartz was stabbed to death in Leesberg, Va. Three Satanists

> have been arrested.

>

> 5. Dec. 14, 2001:

>

> Nguyen Van Set died in an airlock filled with nitrogen in his lab in

> Geelong, Australia.

>

> 6. Feb. 9, 2002:

>

> Victor Korshunov had his head bashed in near his home in Moscow.

>

> 7. Feb. 14, 2002:

>

> Ian Langford was found partially naked and wedged under a chair in

Norwich,

> England.

>

> 8. 9. Feb. 28, 2002:

>

> San Francisco resident Tanya Holzmayer was killed by a microbiologist

> colleague, Guyang Huang, who shot her as she took delivery of a pizza and

> then apparently shot himself.

>

> 10. March 24, 2002:

>

> David Wynn-Williams died in a road accident near his home in Cambridge,

> England.

>

> 11. March 25, 2002:

>

> Steven Mostow of the Colorado Health Sciences Centre, killed in a plane he

> was flying near Denver.

>

> 12. June 24, 2003:

>

> Leland Rickman, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCSD

School

> of Medicine, died suddenly on June 24 while traveling and teaching

medicine

> in Lesotho, Africa. Actual cause of death, apparently due to natural

causes,

> is not known.

>

> 13. July 18, 2003

>

> David Kelly, a British biological weapons expert, was said to have slashed

> his own wrists while walking near his home. Kelly was the Ministry of

> Defence's chief scientific officer and senior adviser to the proliferation

> and arms control secretariat, and to the Foreign Office's

non-proliferation

> department. The senior adviser on biological weapons to the UN biological

> weapons inspections teams (Unscom) from 1994 to 1999, he was also, in the

> opinion of his peers, pre-eminent in his field, not only in this country,

> but in the world.

>

> People Who Aren't on the Main List, but Probably Should Be

>

> Nov. 5, 2001:

>

> Jeffrey Paris Wall was said to have jumped from the parking structure at

his

> place of work, the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers. See this entry for more

> details.

>

> Sept. 30, 2002:

>

> Christopher Legallo

>

> Legallo died in a plane crash. He was a terrorism analyst for SAIC. His

> wife, Laura Koepfler, a weapons of mass destruction analyst for SAIC, was

> also supposed to be on the doomed plane, but decided to take a different

> flight at the last moment.

>

> Oct. 10, 2002:

>

> Linda Franklin was allegedly killed by the Lee Boyd Malvo/John Allen

> Muhammad sniper team. Franklin was a top analyst at the FBI National

> Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC).

>

> Update: Three More

>

> AM sends:

>

> Hi Kevin,

>

> You forgot to include:

>

> 4 - 6.Nov 24, 2001:

>

> Three more dead microbiologists: A Swissair flight from Berlin to Zurich

> crashes during its landing approach; 22 are killed and nine survive. Among

> those killed are Dr. Yaakov Matzner, 54, dean of the Hebrew University

> school of medicine; Amiramp Eldor, 59, head of the haematology department

at

> Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and a world-recognized expert in blood

> clotting; and Avishai Berkman, 50, director of the Tel Aviv public health

> department and businessman.

>

> ~~~~~~~~~

>

>

>

> Was Dr Kelly - Vince Fostered?

>

> http://batr.org/

>

>

> This time all those conspiracy nuts started their swim from the other side

> of the pond. We all know that the English are surely above intrigue and

> sinister deeds, just ask Roberto Calvi, you know “God’s Banker”, as he

hung

> from Blackfriars Bridge. All those suspect and secret financial dealings

> with the Vatican had the Holy See distance themselves from the ‘suicide’

> back in 1987. That collapse of Banco Ambrosiano and subsequent

> fraudulent-bankruptcy surely couldn’t involve American Archbishop Paul

> Marcinkus, then president of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), the

> official name of the Vatican bank. Amazing that the official story of

Calvi’

> s death was finally rejected as the real cause of his fate.

>

> Surely there can be no doubt about all that commotion over Vince Foster

> taking his own life, right? All those Yankee kooks that think the worst

> about Beltway spooks surely don’t have any proof that collusion was

involved

> with Hillary’s other partner’s ‘suicide’. Who would believe those stories

> about him being a bag man for all those numbered accounts and frequent

flyer

> miles in and out of Geneva? Poor old Vince left that note before he offed

> himself, didn’t he? Surely we all accept the facts in that Fiske report,

> even if it was preliminary and sealed, right? Leaks and spin always seems

to

> bring out the best in the press and the public servants. We can believe

> them, only a crackpot sees a plot in every park . . .

>

> So surely, we can accept that Dr David Kelly bled to death, the New York

> Times reported it, and they never lie! “His wife, Jan, said on Friday that

> he had committed suicide”. Aren’t you glad you get such quality reporting

> from a source you can trust? If you doubt the Brits, how about that AFP

news

> wire report, you can believe the French. Surely you can that stock in the

> Thames Valley police spokesman when he said: “there was no evidence anyone

> else was involved.”

>

> But for the purest, only the BBC can be reliable. News you know to be

above

> the fray and leak proof.

>

> “Iraq weapons expert Dr David Kelly reportedly warned of " many dark actors

> playing games " in an e-mail sent hours before he bled to death from a

> slashed wrist.

>

> The message, sent to a journalist, appeared to refer to officials within

the

> Ministry of Defence and British intelligence agencies with whom he had

> sparred over interpretations of weapons reports, according to the New York

> Times.

>

> But his e-mail gave no indication he was depressed and said he was waiting

> " until the end of the week " before judging how his appearance before the

> committee had gone, the newspaper said.”

>

> If you seem a little confused, surely, you can have confidence in > Blair! When asked, hard at work in Asia, “whether the crisis would cause

him

> or any of his top aides to resign and asked if he felt he had “blood on

his

> hands”, his reply was: “I hope we can set aside the speculation and the

> counterclaims and allow that due process to take its proper course. And in

> the mean time, all of us, the politicians and media alike, should show

some

> respect and restraint.” Boy, Tony must be retaining Robert Fiske to advise

> on perfecting restraint, in light of ‘suicide’ investigations.

>

> Now that the BBC has disclosed that Dr David Kelly was the principal

source

> for its controversial report claiming Downing Street " sexed up " an Iraq

> weapons dossier, what will a Prime Minister do? Surely, Sky News reflects

> the sentiment of the English - Kelly was the mole, and near three quarters

> of their polls say that Blair should resign. Wow, if only Americans had

the

> same outrage when Vince was grazing on the grass.

>

>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~