PLAYING DIRTY AT THE BBC

Dead scientist revealed Iraq dirty bomb (Nicholas Rufford, 8/03/03, The Sunday Times)

David Kelly, the British weapons expert at the centre of the Iraq dossier row, had amassed firm evidence to show that Saddam Hussein built and tested a "dirty bomb."

Designed to cause cancer and birth defects, the radiological weapon could have been used by terrorists to create panic and widespread contamination in a crowded city.

Kelly, who committed suicide last month, presented evidence of the bomb to the government in 1995 and recommended to Foreign Office officials that it feature in the government's intelligence dossier on Iraq. However, despite secret Iraqi documents being produced to prove its existence, it was not included.

In an interview with The Sunday Times in June, Kelly said the dirty bomb was originally built by Saddam for use against Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq war as a tactical weapon and an instrument of terror.

He said Iraq still "possessed the know-how and the materials to build a radiological weapon." The threat was potentially more serious than some other weapons of mass destruction, he said, because Iraq still retained the main ingredients - nuclear material and high explosives.

Asked why it had not formed part of the government's case against Iraq, Kelly said he did not know but said there were people in government who were skeptical about the potency of such a weapon.

The easiest assumption to make about Mr. Kelly's suicide--besides that he was a very mentally ill man--was that he was driven over the edge by the government's response to his leaking. If it were to turn out he was distraught at how he'd been made to appear to be a foe of the case against Saddam, the BBC would be in significant trouble. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 3, 2003 6:36 PM