http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/29-7-19103-0-31-8.html

Hutton ready to launch Kelly death inquiry
Proceedings begin at end of this week

DEBORAH SUMMERS

LORD Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly, the weapons expert, will begin on Friday, the government announced yesterday.

The law lord will hold a preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in which he will set out how he intends to conduct the inquiry and hear applications from interested parties, which are expected to include the government and the BBC.

It will then be adjourned until after Dr Kelly's funeral, which "will not take place for some time", the Department for Constitutional Affairs said in a statement.

The inquiry will meet any legal costs that Dr Kelly's widow, Janice, might incur.

Lord Hutton decided to go ahead with a preliminary hearing after meeting Mrs Kelly in her home in Southmoor, Oxfordshire, on Saturday.

The DCA said in a statement: "Lord Hutton had originally intended not to commence sitting until after Dr Kelly's funeral.

"However as the funeral will not take place for some time, Mrs Kelly has told Lord Hutton that she would have no objection to a preliminary sitting of the inquiry before the funeral."

The news emerged as Clare Short, former cabinet minister, claimed an "abuse of power" helped drive Dr Kelly to his death.

As Lord Hutton prepared to begin his inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's apparent suicide, Ms Short said it was vital to learn the truth not only about the death but also about the government's decision to go to war in Iraq.

She told the Independent newspaper: "We must deal with Dr Kelly and the abuse of power that helped drive him to his death, but we must also deal with the questions of how we went to war in Iraq and how much half-truth and deceit there was on the way."

Lord Hutton has been asked to carry out an inquiry into the death of Dr Kelly, whose body was found on July 18 near his home, days after he was named as the probable source for a BBC report questioning the government's case for Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction.

Ms Short, who quit the cabinet soon after the war ended, warned of the danger that Dr Kelly's death would come to symbolise Mr Blair's administration.

She said: "I said spin would damage and destroy Tony. There is a danger the tragedy of this death encapsulates the argument and then everyone sees it through this lens.

"Public confidence has changed enormously. It has deepened the sense there is something wrong in the way in which No 10 is run. There is more scrutiny of that, so that damages Tony Blair's reputation."

Ms Short was scathing about Ministry of Defence claims that normal procedures were followed when officials confirmed Dr Kelly's identity to journalists.

"Normally, if a civil servant talks to the press you have a leak inquiry," she said.

"There would be no notion of a civil servant being named and thrown into the public arena, a media frenzy and a select committee.

"So, normal procedures were breached. It is very difficult to say that was not for political purposes and that is very serious."

Robin Cook, former foreign secretary, yesterday repeated calls for a broader independent inquiry into Iraq intelligence.

He said he was "baffled" that the government continued to maintain that it was right and everybody else was wrong.

"There is nobody else out there in the world who believes what the British government claims to believe, that Saddam was trying to buy uranium from Niger," Mr Cook said.

Alex Salmond, the Scottish National party's Westminster leader, insisted the BBC was right to broadcast stories about the government's allegedly false claims over Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.

"The subsequent fight was deliberately picked by Alastair Campbell to divert attention from areas where the government had been caught out making it up - such as Blair's bogus claims about uranium imports from Niger," he said.

UK troops reveal their new ordeal in 120F Iraq

Cutting edge that blunts fighting force

-July 29th