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BBC Blamed for Broadcasting 'Unfounded' Allegations
By Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, January 28, 2004; 10:34 AM
LONDON, July 28 -- A judicial inquiry cleared Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday of allegations aired by the BBC that he and his aides had exaggerated intelligence claims about Iraq's access to weapons of mass destruction and drove to suicide a British weapons expert who raised questions about those claims.
While exonerating Blair, Lord Brian Hutton blamed the BBC for broadcasting what he called "unfounded" allegations in May of 2003 that the government had published a "sexed-up" claim that Iraq could launch such weapons within 45 minutes of an order despite knowing it was probably wrong.
Hutton ruled that BBC editors did not adequately scrutinize the allegations before they were broadcast and that editors and senior officials -- including the BBC's board of governors -- failed to investigate after Blair and the government heatedly denied the report.
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