Second BBC Executive Resigns; Corporation Apologizes to Blair

Hutton said the weapons dossier prepared for release in September 2002 had been the product of the top-secret Joint Intelligence Committee and, contrary to the BBC report, had not been subject to political interference. Aides in Blair's Downing Street office had suggested strengthening or clarifying the language of the dossier, but Hutton concluded that the committee's chairman, John Scarlett, had had the final say on what it contained and had not embellished its findings.

Hutton concluded that Kelly had acted improperly in meeting with BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan and discussing intelligence matters without official authorization. But he said Gilligan's notes of the meeting did not substantiate the reporter's claims that Kelly had accused the prime minister's office -- and specifically Alastair Campbell, then the prime minister's communications director -- of knowingly publishing false intelligence.

Among other things, Hutton faulted BBC managers for not examining Gilligan's notes before issuing a vigorous defense of his report, and for failing to take into account an e-mail from Gilligan's editor that criticized the journalist's reporting methods, "loose use of language and lack of judgment in some of his phraseology."

Campbell made several emotional attacks against the BBC, which "raised very considerably the temperature of the dispute," the report said. Hutton said the BBC's board of governors had been correct in seeking to defend the independence of the broadcaster from those attacks. But the judge said the board should have undertaken its own investigation of Gilligan's notes "rather than relying on the assurances of BBC management."

Kelly came forward at the end of June and told his superiors he might have been the reporter's source. His disclosure set off a flurry of government meetings, some of them led by Blair, who eventually decided that the government should issue a statement disclosing that someone had come forward. Defense Ministry officials disclosed enough details that journalists were able to guess Kelly's name, which officials then confirmed.

Hutton said the Defense Ministry could have done a better job of protecting Kelly from press scrutiny and should have told him it was preparing to disclose his identity. But Hutton exonerated officials -- including Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon -- of the charge that their actions were responsible for Kelly's apparent suicide in July.

"Whatever pressures and strains Dr. Kelly was subject to by the decisions and actions taken in the weeks before his death, I am satisfied that no one realized or should have realized that these pressures and strains might have driven him to take his own life or contribute to his decision to do so," Hutton said in a 90-minute summary he read to a packed hearing room on Wednesday afternoon.

Kelly's wife, Janice, had testified before the inquiry that her husband had felt betrayed by the Defense Ministry for allowing his name to become public. "No other person should have to suffer the pressure he experienced," said Peter Jacobsen, a lawyer for the family, expressing its response to Wednesday's findings.

The report brought to a climax two days of intense political drama for Blair. On Tuesday, the House of Commons narrowly approved his flagship reform proposal to raise tuition at British universities. Analysts said the slim margin of that victory -- five votes -- had wounded Blair politically and made his vindication Wednesday more crucial. "The allegation that I or anyone else lied to this House or deliberately misled the country by falsifying intelligence on WMD is itself the real lie," Blair told lawmakers.

But Michael Howard, leader of the opposition Conservatives, refused to back down from his claim that the Kelly affair was a black mark against the prime minister. "No one in government can look back on this episode with pride," he said. "The nation will, in due course, deliver its verdict."

Gilligan, who has not been on the air since the inquiry began, did not comment directly, but the National Union of Journalists issued a statement on his behalf branding the Hutton report as "grossly one-sided and a serious threat to the future of investigative journalism."

"Whatever Lord Hutton may think, it is clear from the evidence he heard that the dossier was 'sexed up,' that many in the intelligence services were unhappy about it, and that Andrew Gilligan's story was substantially correct," said Jeremy Dear, the union's president.

In his resignation statement, Davies, the BBC chairman, questioned whether Hutton's "bald conclusions" could be reconciled with the evidence and whether they might damage press freedom in Britain. Still, he explained his resignation by saying, "I have been brought up to believe that you cannot choose your own referee, and that the referee's decision is final."

Because the BBC is overseen by the government and raises most its funds through a compulsory licensing fee, Blair will have the principal role in choosing a successor to Davies. The BBC has already announced plans to strengthen its accountability and editorial procedures by putting a senior executive in charge of complaints. But critics are expected to demand many more changes. In a statement claiming exoneration, Campbell, the former communications director, demanded "several resignations at several levels."

"What I fear in all of this is that Hutton will unleash a frenzy of attacks and that the BBC will become a whipping post for everyone who's had it in for them," said Chris Smith, a lawmaker who was formerly cabinet secretary for culture and media. "My own belief is the BBC made particular mistakes that need to be corrected, but I defend to the hilt the BBC's right to be independent and practice robust journalism."

Frankel reported from London. Barbash reported from Washington.