May 29, 2003: Andrew Gilligan, the BBC's defence correspondent, says in a report on Radio 4's Today programme that a source -- a senior British official -- informed him that a dossier on Iraq published in September was "sexed up" to make a more convincing case for war.

June 1: In an article in the Mail on Sunday, Gilligan claims that Prime Minister Tony Blair's director of communications, Alastair Campbell, was responsible for inserting in the dossier the claim that Saddam Hussein could launch his weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.

June 19: Gilligan faces the House of Commons' foreign affairs committee looking at the decision to go to war to give evidence on his claims.

June 25: Campbell appears before the committee and denies that he was responsible for adding the disputed information to the dossier, demanding an apology from the BBC.

June 27: The BBC rejects the call for an apology and defends the integrity of Gilligan's report, while Campbell says the BBC has "not a shred of evidence for their lie".

July 7: The committee clears Campbell of "sexing up" the dossier. Campbell repeats his calls for an apology from the BBC, which stands by its story.

July 8: An unnamed Ministry of Defence official comes forward and admits meeting Gilligan to discuss the dossier. He denies ever mentioning Campbell.

The BBC says the ministry's description of the official does not "match" Gilligan's source.

Meanwhile Blair tells the committee it is "totally false" to suggest anyone inserted information into last September's dossier against the wishes of intelligence agencies.

July 9: Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon writes to BBC chairman Gavyn Davies demanding to know whether the official is the source of the original Iraq dossier story. The official is named as microbiologist and weapons adviser Dr David Kelly.

July 10: Kelly is summoned to appear before the foreign affairs committee.

July 15: Kelly tells the foreign affairs committee he believes he was not the main "sexed up" dossier source. BBC refuses to discuss the source further, prompting the Ministry of Defence to describe its reticence as "suspicious".

Gilligan is told he will have to return to give evidence to the committee.

July 16: Blair tells lawmakers the BBC should say whether or not Kelly is the source for its report.

July 17: Gilligan is recalled to a private session of the foreign affairs committee after Kelly denied suggestions he was the possible source of the story.

Committee chairman Donald Anderson later says the BBC journalist was an "unsatisfactory witness", adding: "Mr Gilligan appeared to change his mind on the very grave allegation in quite a fundamental way."

At 3:00 pm (1400 GMT), Kelly leaves his house in Abingdon, west of London, telling his wife he is going for a walk.

At 11:45 pm his family contacts police when he fails to return home.

July 18: Police appeal for help to find Kelly and disclose details of his disappearance.

At about 11:00 am, police hunting for Kelly say the body of an unidentified man has been found in the countryside at Harrowdown Hill, about five miles (eight kilometres) from Kelly's home.

The Ministry of Defence says it will hold an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances leading up to the death of Kelly.

July 19: The body found is confirmed as Kelly. The post-mortem examination reveals that the cause of death was loss of blood due to a wound to his left wrist. A knife and a packet of painkillers often used in suicides are found near the body.

His family later issue a statement saying Kelly's life had been made "intolerable".

Labour member of parliament Glenda Jackson calls on Blair to resign over the affair. Blair, on a trip to East Asia, describes the death as an "absolutely terrible tragedy".

July 20: Blair refuses to step down or recall parliament from a summer recess, but says he is ready to appear before the judicial inquiry.

The BBC confirms Dr David Kelly was the source of claims that the government "sexed up" intelligence on Iraq.

WAR.WIRE