1.20pm
LONDON - British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon admitted on Saturday his staff mishandled the treatment of an Iraq weapons expert whose suicide rocked Prime Minister Tony Blair's government.
Hoon said the Defence Ministry had been wrong not to tell government scientist Dr David Kelly sooner that his name would be
made public during a row over the government's case for war in Iraq.
Kelly, 59, slit his wrist on July 17, 2003, after being outed as the source of a BBC report which accused the government of exaggerating the military threat posed by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Kelly, who expected to remain anonymous, told his wife Janice he felt "totally let down and betrayed" after defence officials confirmed he was the BBC's source.
"I accept, with the benefit of hindsight, that we should have done more to tell (him) that his name was to be confirmed," Hoon said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"I wish we had thought of it, but we did not."
Kelly's suicide and the subsequent inquiry into his death led to the biggest crisis in Blair's seven years in office.
As Kelly's ultimate boss, Hoon came under intense pressure to explain the process of naming the weapons expert during the probe, led by senior judge Lord Hutton.
"I asked frequently my private office and others to ensure that people were speaking to him (Kelly) and that he was comfortable with what was happening," Hoon told the Telegraph.
"That specific thing was not done and, as I say, I regret that was not done."
In January Hutton cleared the defence secretary and Blair of any wrongdoing.
Hoon went on to survive repeated calls in the media for his resignation after reports of British troops going into battle in Iraq without the correct equipment.
In a wide-ranging interview, Hoon said Britain had been right to join the US-led war in Iraq to topple Saddam, despite the recent upsurge in violence.
"I don't have any doubts," he said. "But I am aware of the consequences. The most difficult thing that I have to do in my life...is to meet the families of people who die."
- REUTERS
Herald Feature: Iraq
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