Date fixed for UK's Hutton report
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Lord Hutton's hearings last year gripped Britain.
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LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Senior British judge Lord Hutton will publish his report into last year's suicide of a British weapons expert David Kelly January 28, officials say.
Government scientist Kelly slashed his wrist in a wooded area last year after being exposed as the source for a BBC reporter's claim that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's team inflated the threat posed by Iraq to justify war.
The government helped make Kelly's name public and could be criticized in the report.
"I can confirm the report will be published in parliament on Wednesday, January 28," said a spokesman at the UK Department for Constitutional Affairs.
Lord Hutton will give interested parties 24 hours to read the report before it comes out. He will then retire -- leaving him with nothing to lose and perhaps no punches to pull.
The fate of senior ministers -- particularly Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon -- government officials, BBC chiefs and perhaps even Blair could rest on Hutton's verdict.
If Blair is personally criticized, the recent capture of Saddam Hussein will count for little. He has said he will resign if the report finds he lied.
Hutton will read a summary of his findings in London's High Court and Blair has pledged to make a full statement to parliament.
Through the summer of 2003, Lord Hutton's inquiry gripped Britain, and as the public watched, opinion polls showed their trust in Blair faded.
Nine months after Saddam was toppled, not one of the weapons of mass destruction that Blair claimed the Iraqi leader had primed for use has been discovered.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
