LOC12:24
09:24 GMT
BBC dossier source believed to be in Iraq
(With IRAQ-BBC)
LONDON, JULY 5 (KUNA) -- The source for bitterly contested allegations
that Downing Street exaggerated its dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons of
mass destruction is a military expert who is now based in Iraq, BBC insiders
are claiming Saturday.
The revelation to the Times newspaper today came as the BBC confirmed last
night that its governors would meet BBC'S Director-General Greg Dyke tomorrow
to discuss the corporation's position before publication of a report by MPs
this Monday.
Although the BBC has refused to name the informant, its executives have
suggested that disclosure of his identity would transform a debate which has
shifted decisively in the Government's favour over recent days.
Andrew Gilligan, the BBC Radio defence correspondent at the centre of the
row, has revealed the name of his source only to Richard Sambrook, the BBC's
head of news.
The position held - but not the name - of this official is also known to
Greg Dyke. BBC journalists have been told that Gilligan's anonymous source is
among the
100 British intelligence and weapons specialists currently in Iraq as part
of the American-led survey group searching for Saddam's missing weapons of
mass destruction (WMD).
This information is in line with a briefing to The Times from a senior BBC
executive this week, who said that attempts to contact Gilligan's source in
the past month to ask supplementary questions had proved unsuccessful because
of the nature of his position.
Asked if he was now based abroad, the executive replied: "Something like
that."
The head of the British contingent, Brigadier John Deverell, is unlikely to
have been the BBC's source because he has no background in military
intelligence and was previously based in Saudi Arabia, the Times added.
MPs are expected to clear Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's
communications director, of charges that he forced Intelligence chiefs to
include in last year's dossier "unreliable" information about Iraq's capacity
to deploy WMD within 45 minutes.
The report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, which is due
out on Monday, will criticize Campbell over his handling of intelligence
information in general and, in particular, the use of plagiarised material in
the later February briefing paper - the so-called dodgy dossier.
However, the BBC is preparing to admit defeat on the 45- minute claims,
which have been denied by the heads of all relevant intelligence services.
No 10 does not want a clash with the intelligence services, with Campbell
pointing out that their integrity has also been put on the line by the BBC's
allegations, the paper said. (end)
he.ja
KUNA 051224 Jul 03NNNN