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SLUG: 2-312399 Britain Iraq Inquiry (S-O)
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DATE=1/28/2004 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=BRITAIN / IRAQ INQUIRY (S-ONLY) NUMBER=2-312399 BYLINE=MICHAEL DRUDGE DATELINE=LONDON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A British newspaper says Prime Minister Tony Blair has been cleared of misconduct in a long-awaited report into the death of a leading British weapons scientist. V-O-A's Michael Drudge reports from London. TEXT: The Sun newspaper says the report by Judge Brian Hutton exonerates Prime Minister Blair of what it calls "dishonorable or underhanded" conduct. According to the Sun, the Hutton report criticizes the British Broadcasting Corporation for effectively lying in a report last May that said the Blair government had knowingly exaggerated the Iraq weapons threat before the war. Weapons expert David Kelly was later identified by government spokesmen as the source of the B-B-C story. He was found dead in July of an apparent suicide, with his left wrist slashed. The political editor of the generally pro-government Sun newspaper says a source leaked the Hutton report to him before its official publication. Mr. Blair's opponents in parliament are demanding a police investigation into the leak. (SIGNED). NEB/MWD/AWP/RAE |
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