"What I am resisting is any suggestion that there was some sort of conspiracy," Hoon

LONDON, August 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – British Defense Ministry Geoff Hoon said on Wednesday, August 27, that there was no "conspiracy" to name weapons expert David Kelly as the source of a report that Britain doctored evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction to further make the case of invading it.

Distancing himself from the controversial outing of Kelly, Hoon told a judicial inquiry into the respected scientist's presumed suicide that he was not involved in the decision to announce that an official had come forward, saying that was made by Cabinet office officials.

Hoon, the first minister to appear before the inquiry, claimed that he had not seen a document drawn up by the Ministry of Defense's director of news, Pam Teare, that allowed staff to confirm Kelly's identity to journalists.

"I would not expect to be consulted about that kind of material," Hoon was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying at the inquiry headed by Lord Brian Hutton, which is to hear Thursday, August 28, from Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"What I am resisting is any suggestion that there was some sort of conspiracy, some sort of strategy, some sort of plan covertly to make his name known," he said.

"That was not the case," said Hoon.

"My concern was to identify the key facts, whether Doctor Kelly was or was not (BBC journalist) Andrew Gilligan's single source," said Hoon, adding that he only knew for sure that Kelly was the source after the fact was confirmed by the BBC following his death.

Kelly was found dead with a slit wrist in woods near his home in the English countryside on July 18, a week after the Ministry of Defense's press office confirmed he had been the BBC's source. 

Gilligan's radio report on May 29 - based on an off-the-record interview with Kelly - claimed that Downing Street had "sexed up" a September 2002 dossier on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction to justify Britain joining the U.S.-led Iraq invasion.

The 50-page document - which notably claimed that Iraq could deploy chemical or biological weapons in as little as 45 minutes - was a key part of Blair's attempts to persuade a skeptical British public to back the war.

'Extraordinary Difficult'

Hoon, whose political career is on the line over the Kelly affair, had insisted that Kelly - a one-time U.N. arms inspector - appear before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, covered live on television, over the objections of the defense ministry's top civil servant.

Kelly did so, three days before his body was found.

"It would have been extraordinarily difficult to explain ... why we were refusing permission for an official who clearly has something relevant to say about their previous deliberations to appear before parliament," Hoon said.

Hoon began his testimony Wednesday by claiming that Kelly had expressed support for the government's Iraq policy when they met in a Ministry of Defense cafeteria in April, not long after the Iraq invasion began.

"I did not know who it was, we talked about Iraq; we discussed the government's policy which the official said he supported. It was not an official occasion at all," said Hoon.

Many analysts saw Hoon's appearance Wednesday as his make-or-break moment in politics, amid speculation he could end up as the fall guy for the worst crisis to hit Blair since he took office in May 1997.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said Wednesday he was convinced the inquiry - which Blair ordered just hours after Kelly's body was found - would "vindicate" the government.

" I think it will clear the air," said Blunkett during a visit to an processing centre for asylum seekers in south London.

"Although people are sick and tired of day-to-day wall-to-wall coverage, I think Lord Hutton will find in a way that people can have confidence again in the institutions of this country," he said.

Kelly's Final Call Revealed

Kelly was "tired" after the grilling, Clark

After Hoon's evidence, details of the final hours of weapons expert David Kelly's life have emerged at the Hutton inquiry into his death.

Wing Commander John Clark, a colleague of the scientist, told of his conversations with Kelly shortly before he went missing.

Clark told the inquiry the weapons expert said he had not expected to face the full glare of the media after coming forward to admit his meetings with a BBC reporter.

Clark, who shared an office with Kelly at the Ministry of Defense, said the scientist had not been looking forward to his appearances before the Commons foreign affairs committee and the intelligence and security committee, BBC NewsOnline reported.

He told the inquiry the weapons expert was "tired" after the grilling.

"He was asked by a colleague how he felt and he said that the pressure associated with the hearings was worse than that associated with his Phd".

"I think up until then that had been the most stressful interview he had perhaps had."

He said that when he spoke to Dr Kelly on 17 July - the day the weapons expert went missing from his Oxfordshire home - he was in good spirits, but said his wife was upset.

"He basically said he was holding up ok but it had all come to a head and his wife had taken it really very badly," said Clark.

"Whether that was in association with the additional pressure of having to get back on the day before under her own steam I do not know. But he did say that his wife had been very upset on the morning of the 17th."

Clark told the inquiry he had asked Dr Kelly whether he had expected the attention he received after revealing his meetings with Gilligan.

He said Kelly had told him: "Under no circumstances."

Chairman the Intelligence and Security Committee Ann Taylor also gave her evidence, saying the row between the BBC and the government over the dossier was a "marginal" issue to her committee's inquiry.