London, Aug 10: Prime Minister Tony Blair must personally apologise for attempts by his officials to smear the name of dead weapons expert David Kelly, the leader of Britain's main opposition Conservative Party said today. The comments by Iain Duncan Smith -- who alleged Blair's spin doctors had tried to "cheapen" Kelly's reputation -- ratchets up the political pressure a day before an official inquiry begins into the weapons expert's apparent suicide.
The official probe, led by judge Lord Brian Hutton, will investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Kelly, who was found dead with a slit wrist near his home in Oxfordshire, southern England just over three weeks ago. Government scientist Kelly has been identified as the source of a highly contentious BBC report alleging Blair's staff exaggerated intelligence data on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction ahead of US-led war in March.
The row took a new twist just before Kelly's funeral last week when Blair's official spokesman, the unrelated Tom Kelly, compared the scientist to fictional fantasist Walter Mitty while talking to a journalist. The spokesman later made a complete apology for the off-the-record comments, but Duncan Smith said today that this was not enough. Bureau Report