Blair faces the worst crisis in his six years in power over Kelly's mysterious death

HAKONE, Japan, July 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Caught out at the start of an East Asia tour by the worst crisis in his six years in power over the mysterious death of senior advisor to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) on biological warfare David Kelly, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was grilled Saturday, July 19, by the press and said nothing when asked pointblank at a press conference if he had "blood on his hands" and might resign.

Blair stared silently out across the room full of journalists and TV cameras for several tense seconds and then with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at his side, left the room, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Minutes before, Blair reiterated the stance he took earlier Saturday on the startling death of Kelly, a former U.N. arms inspector in Iraq , that an independent judicial inquiry must be allowed to run its course and find out the truth.

"I totally understand why you would like me to go back into what I said earlier," said Blair, who was meeting Koizumi and spending the night in the Japanese mountain spa resort of Hakone.

"But I think what is important is that there is some due process, and the reason for having an inquiry - and I think people would have expected us to have one because of the tragedy that has occurred - is so that the facts can be established," he said.

He was also asked if defense secretary Geoff Hoon or his communications chief Alastair Campbell would resign over the affair, but refused to be drawn.

"I don't think it is right for anyone, ourselves or anybody else, to make a judgment until we have the facts," he said.

"The person who can conduct this inquiry is someone who is highly respected and will get to the truth of what has happened."

He further called for "respect and restraint" until the full circumstances were known.

'Emotional Strain'

Kelly was caught up in a row between the BBC and the government

The BBC's correspondent said the prime minister looked under "enormous emotional strain and couldn't hide it."

Blair has seen his support among voters plummet in recent weeks as the government was accused of embellishing its case for waging war on Iraq .

Kelly's body was found Thursday morning, July 17, at Harrowdown Hill, five miles from Kelly's home in Southmoor, Oxfordshire. It was described as a "grisly find", but police did not say how he Kelly died.

The British press launched a vitriolic attack Saturday on Blair, saying that he is now facing the toughest test of his tenure and asserting that If heads started to roll, the pressure on Blair would certainly increase.

Dr. Kelly, 59, had been caught up in a row between the BBC and the government about the use of intelligence reports in the run-up to the war with Iraq .

The mild-mannered senior U.N. advisor admitted he had met Andrew Gilligan, the defense correspondent of BBC Radio 4's Today program, a week before he broadcast his story on the Radio about the so-called "dodgy Iraq dossier."

On 29 May, Gilligan broadcast that a senior British official had told him that the Government's dossier on Iraq , published in September 2002, was "sexed up" by Alastair Campbell, Blair's communications chief, against the wishes of the intelligence services.

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.