Blair adviser: 'PM involved in discussions about naming Kelly'

[Khephra]

Blair adviser: 'PM involved in discussions about naming Kelly'
PA
18 August 2003


One of Tony Blair's closest advisers told the Hutton inquiry into the death of government weapons expert David Kelly today that the Prime Minister was involved in discussions over whether the scientist should be publicly named.

Jonathan Powell, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, said he had a meeting in Downing Street with Cabinet Office intelligence co-ordinator Sir David Omand and Sir John Scarlett, the chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, to discuss whether Dr Kelly should be named as the source for the BBC report by Andrew Gilligan on 29 May claiming that Downing Street had "sexed up" the Government's September 2002 dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

more.........................

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=434945

[dArKeR]

1. BLAIR'S CRISIS MEETING OVER DR KELLY

The Hutton Inquiry today heard how Prime Minister Tony Blair summoned a crisis meeting at Number 10 after weapons expert Dr David Kelly told his bosses about his unauthorised meeting with the BBC's Andrew Gilligan.

Mr Blair wanted to discuss how to handle the news that Dr Kelly may have leaked information to the media, the inquiry into Dr Kelly's death was told.

Downing Street chief of staff Jonathan Powell, one of Mr Blair's closest aides, told the inquiry that senior officials were summoned to the Prime Minister's office on Monday July 7.

They included the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, John Scarlett, the Cabinet Office intelligence and security co-ordinator Sir David Omand, and the Ministry of Defence permanent secretary Sir Kevin Tebbit. They were later joined by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Downing Street communications chief Alastair Campbell. The Prime Minister asked for a "deeper analysis" of the differenced between what Dr Kelly was saying and what Andrew Gilligan had reported.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13306578_method=full_siteid=50143_headline=-BLAIR%2DS%2DCRISIS%2DMEETING%2DOVER%2DDR%2DKELLY-name_page.html

Everyone with a brain knows this is the meeting where Blair decided to assassinate Kelly. Wake-up!

http://darker0darker.tripod.com/