British Government Curbed Iraq Expert Testimony

LONDON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon tried to stop parliamentarians quizzing scientist David Kelly over the dossier on which Prime Minister Tony Blair based Britain's case for war with Iraq, a senior politician said on Thursday.

Donald Anderson, chairman of the foreign affairs select committee, said Hoon approved Kelly's questioning only if he was not asked his views on Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction programs or the government's Iraq dossier.

Kelly was the source for a BBC reporter who accused Blair of "sexing up" the dossier to justify an unpopular war on Iraq.

The report triggered a furious row between the government and state broadcaster. Kelly, caught up in the firestorm, committed suicide on July 17, two days after his uncomfortable appearance in front of Anderson's committee.

more