"I did not authorise the leaking of the name of David Kelly," Blair told reporters on his flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong.

"The important thing is to let the inquiry do its work," he said referring to a judicial investigation the government has called into the suicide of the former UN arms inspector at the centre of allegations that Downing Street exaggerated the threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

"I believe we have acted properly throughout. There are a whole lot of questions that the inquiry will ask and we will answer them," Blair said.

WAR.WIRE