Diary casts fresh doubt on official Government version

LONDON - The private diaries of Alastair Campbell revealed yesterday how he and Geoff Hoon, the British Defence Secretary, were desperate to expose Dr David Kelly in the Government's conflict with the BBC, and to try to shore up the credibility of the Iraq arms dossier.

The bitterness of the confrontation was highlighted in one entry in which Campbell spoke of how identifying Kelly as the BBC source would "****" Andrew Gilligan, the journalist who made the claim that the dossier was "sexed up" by Downing Street.

Selected extracts from the diary were read out by Campbell, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's director of communications and strategy, when he gave evidence last month to the Hutton inquiry to support his version of events.

The extended versions produced yesterday at the request of Lord Hutton gave the fullest insight yet into Campbell's thinking leading up to Kelly's apparent suicide.

The new evidence reveals Campbell and Hoon believed that the "biggest thing needed" was for Kelly's name to come out, contradicting claims made in the inquiry that all efforts had been made to protect his identity. Campbell also disclosed that Kelly had been "well schooled" for his appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee by Ministry of Defence officials, while the inquiry had been told by, among others, the Prime Minister that the scientist had received a "routine" briefing.

Campbell said, however, that the testimony was a "disaster" because the MPs had decided he was not Gilligan's main source.

The diary entries covered five days between July 4 and July 15. In his first entry, Campbell writes: "Spoke to H [Hoon], who said that a man had come forward who felt he was probably G's [Gilligan's] source. He had come forward and was being interviewed today.

"GH said his immediate instinct was to throw the book at him but in fact there was a case for trying to get some kind of plea bargaining. Says that he had come forward and he was saying Yes to speaking to AG [Gilligan], yes he said intel [intelligence] went in late but he never said the other stuff. It was double-edged but GH and I agreed it would **** Gilligan if that was his source."

On July 6, Campbell wrote: "GH, like me, wanted to get it out that the source had broken cover to claim AG had misrepresented him."

Blair wanted either Hoon or Campbell to tell the Foreign Affairs Committee - nearing the end of its lengthy investigation into the Iraq invasion - that an unofficial source had come forward.

The entry continues: "His [Blair's] worry was that it could lead to them reopening the inquiry. He wanted, and GH did, to get it to the BBC Governors that we may know who the source was. That he was not a spy, not involved in the WMD dossier and was a WMD expert who advised departments.

"TB [Blair] was fine about that, but backed off speaking to Omand [Sir David Omand, the Cabinet Office security co-ordinator] ... He felt the guy had to be treated properly and interviewed again. I suggested to GH to speak to TB to try to persuade him we should do this."

- INDEPENDENT

Hutton inquiry website

British Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee transcript:

Evidence of Dr David Kelly

Key players in the 'sexed-up dossier' affair

Herald Feature: Iraq