"We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the members of Dr. David Kelly's family following the news of his death," UNMOVIC said in a statement.

"Dr. Kelly was well known for his professionalism and for the respect that his colleagues had for him."

Kelly, a former chief weapons inspector, worked for the UN Special Commission in Iraq (UNMOVIC's predecessor) from 1991 to 1998.

He also served as a lecturer and instructor for UNMOVIC's advanced bioweapons training courses, and, from November 2000 until February of this year, he helped train UNMOVIC's bioweapons inspectors, the group noted in the statement.

Police in Britain said Kelly, whose body was found on Friday, bled to death after apparently slashing his own wrist. A knife and a packet of painkillers often used in suicides were found near the body.

Kelly, 59, was a defense ministry consultant on biological weapons.

His family said he had been under "intolerable pressure" after being grilled Wednesday by a parliamentary committee examining the row over a BBC report that a February dossier on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction had been "sexed up" by aides to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Kelly denied being the source for the story but admitted briefing Andrew Gilligan, the BBC defense correspondent whose report triggered a high-profile and still-unresolved row between the government and the national broadcaster.

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