If the body is Kelly’s, London intends to "hold an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances of his death," said Blair’s spokesman

LONDON, July 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In what could lead, as one expert put it, to "a full-scale government crisis," British police found Friday, July 18, a body matching description of David Kelley, an official advisor on Iraqi arms at the centre of a row over the government dossier on Baghdad’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.

"The body matches the description of Dr Kelly. The clothes do match the description of Dr Kelly's clothes, but we have not yet formally identified the body," a police spokeswoman told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Later, police said there would be no formal identification of the body until Saturday, July 19.

"Clearly at this very difficult time, condolences must go out to his family, friends and work colleagues," a police spokesman said, adding they were treating the incident "as an unexplained death" whilst awaiting the results of the post-mortem.

Kelly had gone missing on Thursday, July 17, two days after facing a grilling by a parliamentary inquiry into the affair.

Police officers were guarding the entrance to a single track road leading to Harrowdown Hill, where the body was found.

Kelly, who worked as arms inspector in Iraq, was dragged into a political row over a BBC report that the government "sexed up" a dossier on Iraq’s WMD after he was named as the likely "mole" who briefed BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan.

Gilligan had reported that Alistair Campbell, the director of communications and a key aide to Prime Minister Tony Blair, had ordered that a claim that Iraq could deploy chemical or biological weapons in as little as 45 minutes be inserted into a government dossier released last September.

The report sparked a furious row with the government, prompting an official parliamentary inquiry into the intelligence that was presented by the Blair's office as a justification for joining the U.S.-led war on Iraq in March.

Inquiry

"There must be more to this than we had thought. I do not know what that means, I just think there is," said Maples

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was informed of the discovery of the body as he flew from Washington to Tokyo, the Independent quoted Downing Streets as saying.

The Ministry of Defense intends to hold an independent judicial inquiry if the body proves to be that of Kelly, Blair's official spokesman said.

"If it is Dr Kelly, it will be the ministry of defense's intention to hold an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances of his death.

"It goes without saying that the government will cooperate fully," the spokesman told reporters aboard a plane minutes before Blair touched down in Tokyo.

The leader of Britain's opposition Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy, welcomed the announcement of a possible inquiry.

"I welcome the fact the prime minister has said there will obviously have to be a full-scale inquiry into what on earth led to this happening.

"It would be wrong to comment further before we have more details of that but at the moment this is a desperately sad turn of events."

Blair’s spokesman told reporters he "is obviously very distressed for the family (of Kelly)," he said.

"I do not think today is the time to rush to judgment or jump to conclusions," the spokesman told reporters aboard Blair's plane.

He added Blair spent "a fair amount of time" on a secure satellite telephone with London after being informed of the body find, speaking with cabinet ministers including Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon.

Sky News's respected political editor Adam Boulton, who was on the plane with Blair, said if the body proved to be that of Kelly it could lead to "a full-scale government crisis".

He also expected Kelly's death, if it were officially confirmed, could lead to Campbell's resignation.

'Unlikely'

Though clearly very uncomfortable, the slightly-built scientist answered  questions from lawmakers on the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee quietly and calmly and did not appear to be in great distress.

But a close friend of Kelly's said on Friday the scientist's wife had seen he was under massive strain.

"She told me he had been under considerable stress, that he was very, very angry about what had happened at the committee, that he wasn't well, that he had been to a safe house, he hadn't liked that, he wanted to come home," television journalist Tom Mangold told ITV News.

The mild-mannered 59-year-old admitted he had met Gilligan a week before he broadcast his story on the Radio 4 Today program about the Iraq dossier.

Kelly said he did not think he could have been the source for the story, which became the subject of a bitter row between the Government, the BBC and critics of the Iraq war.

After the parliamentary questioning, the committee said it was "most unlikely" he was the main source for the BBC story.

And they said Kelly had been "poorly treated" by the government - a charge strongly rejected by the Ministry of Defense.

Committee Chairman Donald Anderson said Kelly had come forward to the committee of his own accord.

"He volunteered to his line manager at the MoD that he had spoken to Gilligan about the relevant time and had discussed the 45 minutes," he said.

Another member of the committee, Tory John Maples, said he was "speechless" after hearing of the discovery of a body.

"There must be more to this than we had thought. I do not know what that means, I just think there is," said Maples.

The defense ministry said Kelly had at no point been threatened with suspension or dismissal for speaking to Gilligan.

It was made clear to him that he had broken civil service rules by having unauthorized contact with a journalist, but "that was the end of it", said a ministry spokesman.

Number 10 says "normal personnel procedures" were followed after Dr Kelly volunteered that he might have been the source of Gilligan's report.

It was made clear to Dr Kelly that his name was likely to become public knowledge because he was one of only a small number of people it could have been about, the spokesman said.