Blair Testimony Sought in Adviser Case

LONDON – The appeals judge heading an inquiry into the suicide of government weapons adviser David Kelly (search) said Friday he will ask Prime Minister Tony Blair (search) to testify.

Lord Hutton (search) said he would ask Blair to give evidence about a government decision naming Kelly as the possible source for a disputed news report on the government's handling of intelligence on Iraqi weapons.

Hutton said he would also seek to question Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon and Blair's communications director Alastair Campbell.

"At some stage in the course of the inquiry, I propose to ask the prime minister and the Secretary of State for Defense Mr. Geoff Hoon to give evidence of their knowledge of the discussions that took place and the decisions which were taken in relation to Dr. Kelly," he said.

Kelly, a respected former U.N. weapons inspector and adviser in the Defense Ministry, was the source for a British Broadcasting Corp. report citing claims that Blair's aides doctored an intelligence dossier on Iraqi arms to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam's weapons and win backing for the war.

The microbiologist's body was found July 18 with his left wrist slashed. Two days later, the BBC confirmed that Kelly was the unidentified source for its report.

Hutton said he would explore how BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan compiled his report based on the Kelly interview, and how the Defense Ministry came to name Kelly as the possible source for the story. The ministry's decision placed him under intense media scrutiny and led him to give testimony before a parliamentary committee.

Hutton said journalists could follow the proceedings of the inquiry, which will get under way after Kelly's funeral, scheduled for Wednesday.

He added that the proceedings would be made available on a Web site.

"I should emphasize that this is an inquiry to be conducted by me," Hutton said. "It is not a trial conducted between interested parties who have conflicting cases to advance. I do not sit to decide between conflicting cases, I sit to investigate the circumstances surrounding Dr. Kelly's death."

Before the start of Friday's hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, Hutton asked for a minute of silence to honor Kelly.