http://www.irna.ir/en/head/030726150818.ehe.shtml

Commercial broadcasters seek to reverse ban on Kelly inquiry


London, July 26, IRNA -- Britain's two top commercial news services
are seeking to reverse the broadcast ban on the judicial inquiry into
the death of defense ministry "whistleblower" David Kelly.
ITN and Sky News are urging the chairman of the inquiry, Lord
Hutton, to allow the proceedings to be screened live on the ground
that it is of national and historical importance.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon, the BBC,
and members of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee are expected to
be among those giving evidence.
The secretariat of the inquiry, being administered under the
government's Department of Constitutional Affairs, announced Thursday
that the public hearings would be open to the media.
However, except for the opening and closing statements, "it is
Lord Hutton's present intention that the evidence of witnesses to the
Inquiry and applications in the course of the Inquiry will not be
filmed or broadcast," it said.
The inquiry is due to start after Kelly's funeral, which has yet
to be set. His family started preparations on Saturday after his body
was released by the local coroner, who had been awaiting the results
of toxicology tests.
Thames Valley Police, the local force near his home in
Oxfordshire, west of London, confirmed that the results had been
received but said "the coroner does not wish these results to be
discussed until such a time a full inquest takes place."
The BBC is not joining the application for the broadcast ban to
be lifted, saying that it should "not put itself in conflict with Lord
Hutton" as an interested party that is due to give evidence. But it
declared it would televise proceedings if the appeal is successful.
Last week, the BBC confirmed that Kelly, a former Iraq arms
inspector, was the main source of its report in May, suggesting that
the government exaggerated Saddam Hussein's arms threat to justify
the war against Iraq.
The Prime Minister's Office has strenuously denied allegations in
the report, but earlier this week the BBC announced that it had a
taped interview with Kelly.
One of the main questions to be answered in the inquiry is whether
his death was a suicide and the role of the defense ministry in
revealing his name to the press as the likely "whistleblower."
Opposition parties and anti-war Labour MPs are hoping to extend
the terms of reference of the inquiry to the controversy over the
government's case for the Iraq war.
HC/LS/210
End