|
|
Dr Kelly denied he was the main source for Andrew Gilligan's story
2003: Missing Iraq expert - body found
England have
A body believed to be that of government scientist Dr David Kelly has been
found in woodland not far from his Oxfordshire home.
The discovery was made at 0920 BST by a member of the police team called
into search for Dr Kelly after his family reported him missing last night.
Dr Kelly has been at the centre of a row between the British Government and
the BBC about the use of intelligence reports in the run up to the war against
Iraq.
The row centred on a report by journalist Andrew Gilligan during the Today
programme on BBC Radio Four in which he said the government had "sexed-up" its
dossier on Iraq to boost public support for the war.
Intense scrutiny
He accused the government of inserting a claim into the dossier that Saddam
Hussein was capable of deploying weapons of mass destruction within 45
minutes
On Tuesday Dr Kelly - an expert in arms control who had worked as a weapons
inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998 - told the Foreign Affairs select
committee he had spoken to Mr Gilligan but denied he was the main source for the
story.
Dr Kelly left his home in Southmoor, Abingdon, at about 1500 BST on
Thursday to go for a walk. His family reported him missing at 2345 BST the same
day.
The government has announced an inquiry will be held, headed by law lord
Lord Hutton, to investigate the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's death.
The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was on a flight to Tokyo on the first leg
of a Far East tour when he was told the body had been found.
He was said to be "very distressed" for the Kelly family.
Dr Kelly has been under intense media scrutiny since the Ministry of
Defence said he had come forward to say he had had a meeting with Mr
Gilligan.
The MoD said Dr Kelly had at no time been threatened with dismissal or
suspension for speaking to Mr Gilligan.
A spokesman said it had been made clear to Dr Kelly that he had broken
civil service rules by having unauthorised contact with a journalist, but "that
was the end of it".
Downing Street said Dr Kelly had been warned his name was likely to become
public because he was one of only a small number of people who could have been
the source.
Dr Kelly and his wife, Janice, have three daughters, Sian, 32, and twins
Rachel and Ellen, 30.
Cahill is too young for a death sentence
1990: English teenagers held in Thailand over drugs
Artificially 1969:
The Two teenage girls from the Midlands have been arrested for drug
smuggling in Thailand.
Patricia Cahill, 17, and Karen Smith, 18, were stopped by customs officials
at Bangkok airport trying to board a flight to Amsterdam.
They found nearly 70lb (32kg) of powdered heroin with a street value of
about ?m hidden in shampoo bottles and coffee and biscuit tins.
The girls claim they did not know what was in the containers, given to them
by a third person.
They are denying the allegations being made against them.
The British consulate in Bangkok has appointed a solicitor to represent Ms
Cahill and Ms Smith in the Thai courts.
Drug trafficking is punishable by death in Thailand but foreigners usually
have this sentence commuted.
Under Thai law Ms Cahill is too young to be executed.
Speaking from his home in Birmingham Ms Cahill's father did not even know
his daughter had left the country. Patrick Cahill thought she was holidaying in
Scotland.
He said that Patricia was "dead against drugs, she was dead against
abortions and things like that."
The poppy fields of the so-called 'Golden Triangle' - between Thailand,
Laos and Burma - have attracted drug smugglers since the 1960s.
Thailand has responded to international pressure to control the illicit
trade by enforcing harsh sentences and searching all baggage leaving the
country.
Ten years ago British nurse Ruth Nightengale served 18 months of a 20 year
sentence for heroin smuggling in Thailand before her release after receiving a
royal pardon.
Vocabulary:
dossier : a collection of papers giving detailed information about a
particular person or subject(档案;卷宗) |
|
发表于 2016-7-9 23:38:45