London, July 26: Dr David Kelly, scientific adviser to the British Ministry of Defence whose recent suicide had affected the Blair government severely, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Iraq. The 59-year-old microbiologist, who was described by the government as a ''middle-ranking technician'', was put forward for his efforts with the United Nations disarmament team in the early 90s.
His former boss Rolf Ekeus, who ran the weapons inspectorate UNSCOM, said he had nominated Dr Kelly on a number of occasions.
Mr Ekeus told a French newspaper, ''In my opinion David Kelly and his team should have gained the Nobel Prize.'' Describing him as a ''remarkable scientist - serious, precise, with much intellectual rigour'', Mr Ekeus said without Dr Kelly and his team, the world would never have known about Saddam's biological weapon's programme.
A British newspaper quoted Mr Ekeus as saying that both Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence had been exposed for trying to play down the significance of Dr Kelly.
The report quoted sources as saying that Dr Kelly had access to all the drafts of last September's dossier. It added that Dr Kelly was adviser to a top-level task force in the Ministry of Defence that processed intelligence on all aspects of Saddam Hussain's weapons. Bureau Report