Posted on 07/18/2003 6:51:10 AM PDT by randita
ARMS 'MOLE': BODY FOUND
The Ministry of Defence is set to launch a judicial inquiry into the case of arms adviser Dr David Kelly, who is feared dead after vanishing from his home.
A body matching Dr Kelly's description was found near his home in Oxfordshire, this morning.
Thames Valley Police say his family will be taken to formally identify the body tomorrow.
The cause of death will not be revealed until a post-mortem has been carried out.
The body was discovered at Harrowdown Hill, a beauty spot about five miles from Dr Kelly's home in Abingdon at 9.20am.
It was found lying face down in a wooded area by a police search team.
A huge search was launched after Dr Kelly was reported missing by his wife Janice late on Thursday night.
The 59-year-old scientist, who worked for the Ministry of Defence, had told her he was going for a walk almost nine hours earlier.
Tony Blair was informed of the discovery of the body as he flew from Washington to Tokyo on his diplomatic marathon.
Sky's Political Editor Adam Boulton, travelling with the Prime Minister, said Downing Street staff were "visibly shaken and shocked" when told Dr Kelly had gone missing.
"If it is the body of Dr Kelly, we are looking at a full-scale Government crisis," said Boulton.
Dr Kelly was named as the possible "mole" for a BBC report claiming the Government "sexed up" its dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Officer on guard near wood
Earlier this week, he was grilled by MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee about a meeting he had with BBC Defence Correspondent Andrew Gilligan, who filed the story.
Dr Kelly denied being Mr Gilligan's key source and was effectively cleared by the committee after some tough questioning.
Tom Mangold, a television journalist and close friend, said he had spoken to Dr Kelly's wife this morning.
She had said her husband was deeply unhappy and furious at his treatment.
Mr Mangold also revealed Dr Kelly had been taken to a safe house but "he hadn't liked that, he wanted to come home."
He added: "She didn't use the word depressed, but she said he was very very stressed and unhappy about what had happened and this was really not the kind of world he wanted to live in."
Eric Illsley, a Labour member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Dr Kelly should not have felt himself under pressure after being exonerated.
He told Sky News: "I, for the life of me, can't understand why this man might have felt pressured by his appearance before the committee."
Another committee member, Tory MP Richard Ottaway, said: "It is a tragedy. It brings into question this whole regime of spin and manipulation."
Labour MP Peter Kilfoyle, a fierce opponent of the war in Iraq, renewed his demand for an independent judicial inquiry into the reasons for military action.
He told Sky News: "We owe it to Parliament and to the people, and not least to the family of Dr Kelly, to get to the bottom of this in a way which is completely untarnished."
Last Updated: 14:43 UK, Friday July 18, 2003
Oh, yeah. George Galloway's fellow Labourite MPs really want to get to the bottom of this. Uh huh...
2 posted on 3/6/02 7:30 AM Pacific by grammymoon:
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Was he the black magpie or the white magpie? Those two used to crack me up in Mad Magazine.
Thames Valley Police say his family will be taken to formally identify the body tomorrow.
Doesn't this sound odd? How many camily members could, or would, wait until the next day to ID the body?
(nervous laugh as I adjust mine)
On the case.
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