Daily Mail - Dr Kelly 'not a matter' for Chilcot Inquiry
Chilcot: Ask for an inquest into Dr Kelly's death
By Ian Drury
Last updated at 1:18 AM on 13th July 2010
The head of the Iraq war inquiry last night cleared the way for a full inquest into the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly.
Sir John Chilcot said the Government scientist's apparent suicide in July 2003 was 'not a matter' for his five-man panel to investigate.
But he invited campaigners who believe Dr Kelly was murdered to formally request that Attorney General Dominic Grieve orders an inquest.
Sir John's spokesman said: 'The inquiry has no statutory powers, and the committee is not appropriately qualified to decide on medical matters.
'The committee's conclusion is, therefore, that the proper route would be an application to the Attorney General.'
Dr Kelly, 59, killed himself after being outed by the Labour Government as the source of a BBC story claiming that Downing Street was responsible for 'sexing up' a dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Despite pressure from medical experts, the Iraq Inquiry into the run-up and aftermath of the war has decided not to investigate Dr Kelly's death.
Sir John's spokesman said: 'The committee has reached the concluded view that the death of Dr Kelly is not a matter it should consider.
'The ambit of the inquiry is the identification of lessons to be learned for the future from the Iraq conflict.
'The inquiry has no statutory powers, and the committee is not appropriately qualified to decide on medical matters.
'The committee's conclusion is, therefore, that the proper route would be an application to the Attorney General for his fiat [approval] to apply to the High Court.'
An inquiry led by Lord Hutton concluded that the scientist committed suicide in woodland near his Oxfordshire home by severing an artery in his left wrist after overdosing on painkillers.
But campaigning doctors say the artery Dr Kelly severed is too small and difficult to access and cutting it could not have caused death.
And dramatic new testimony from one of Dr Kelly's colleagues, U.S. weapons inspector Mai Pedersen, claimed that an elbow injury meant that the scientist's right arm was so weak he 'had difficulty cutting steak' let alone his own wrist.
Meanwhile, the Chilcot Inquiry was told that Tony Blair's government 'intentionally and substantially' exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussein ahead of the war in Iraq.
Ex-UK diplomat Carne Ross accused ministers of 'blatent dishonesty' and 'lying' to the public about the dictator's capacity to launch WMD to justify the invasion.
He said that it was a 'disgrace' that ministers failed to exhaust all peaceful options before going to war against Iraq in 2003.
Mr Carne, who served at the UN between 1997 and 2002, claimed that British and the U.S. were fully aware that there was no 'substantial threat' from Iraq ahead of the war.
He said the notorious claim in the 'dodgy dossier' of September 2002 that implied Saddam had the capacity to launch WMD within 45 minutes, had 'no basis in firm intelligence'.
'This process of exaggeration was gradual, and proceeded by accretion and editing from document to document, in a way that allowed those participating to convince themselves that they were not engaged in blatant dishonesty,' he said.
'But this process led to highly misleading statements about the UK assessment of the Iraqi threat that were, in their totality, lies.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294205/Chilcot-Ask-inquest-Dr-Kellys-death.html
By Ian Drury
Last updated at 1:18 AM on 13th July 2010
The head of the Iraq war inquiry last night cleared the way for a full inquest into the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly.
Sir John Chilcot said the Government scientist's apparent suicide in July 2003 was 'not a matter' for his five-man panel to investigate.
But he invited campaigners who believe Dr Kelly was murdered to formally request that Attorney General Dominic Grieve orders an inquest.
Sir John's spokesman said: 'The inquiry has no statutory powers, and the committee is not appropriately qualified to decide on medical matters.
'The committee's conclusion is, therefore, that the proper route would be an application to the Attorney General.'
Dr Kelly, 59, killed himself after being outed by the Labour Government as the source of a BBC story claiming that Downing Street was responsible for 'sexing up' a dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Despite pressure from medical experts, the Iraq Inquiry into the run-up and aftermath of the war has decided not to investigate Dr Kelly's death.
Sir John's spokesman said: 'The committee has reached the concluded view that the death of Dr Kelly is not a matter it should consider.
'The ambit of the inquiry is the identification of lessons to be learned for the future from the Iraq conflict.
'The inquiry has no statutory powers, and the committee is not appropriately qualified to decide on medical matters.
'The committee's conclusion is, therefore, that the proper route would be an application to the Attorney General for his fiat [approval] to apply to the High Court.'
An inquiry led by Lord Hutton concluded that the scientist committed suicide in woodland near his Oxfordshire home by severing an artery in his left wrist after overdosing on painkillers.
But campaigning doctors say the artery Dr Kelly severed is too small and difficult to access and cutting it could not have caused death.
And dramatic new testimony from one of Dr Kelly's colleagues, U.S. weapons inspector Mai Pedersen, claimed that an elbow injury meant that the scientist's right arm was so weak he 'had difficulty cutting steak' let alone his own wrist.
Meanwhile, the Chilcot Inquiry was told that Tony Blair's government 'intentionally and substantially' exaggerated the threat from Saddam Hussein ahead of the war in Iraq.
Ex-UK diplomat Carne Ross accused ministers of 'blatent dishonesty' and 'lying' to the public about the dictator's capacity to launch WMD to justify the invasion.
He said that it was a 'disgrace' that ministers failed to exhaust all peaceful options before going to war against Iraq in 2003.
Mr Carne, who served at the UN between 1997 and 2002, claimed that British and the U.S. were fully aware that there was no 'substantial threat' from Iraq ahead of the war.
He said the notorious claim in the 'dodgy dossier' of September 2002 that implied Saddam had the capacity to launch WMD within 45 minutes, had 'no basis in firm intelligence'.
'This process of exaggeration was gradual, and proceeded by accretion and editing from document to document, in a way that allowed those participating to convince themselves that they were not engaged in blatant dishonesty,' he said.
'But this process led to highly misleading statements about the UK assessment of the Iraqi threat that were, in their totality, lies.'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294205/Chilcot-Ask-inquest-Dr-Kellys-death.html
posted by Andrew Simon at 10:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home