Probe clears British govt over Iraq dossier, criticises Blair

LONDON (AFP) Jul 07, 2003
A parliamentary committee Monday cleared the British government of misleading the country in the run-up to the Iraq war over the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, but criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair for publishing an unreliable intelligence dossier.

A report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee cleared Blair's key aide and powerful director of communications Alastair Campbell of exerting "improper influence" on the drafting of an intelligence file.

The committee said Campbell played no role in including a controversial section saying Saddam's weapons of mass destruction were deployable within 45 minutes.

The BBC had quoted an intelligence source who said that Campbell insisted on inserting that passage into the government dossier despite the reservations of Britain's intelligence services.

WAR.WIRE