Tory leader calls for Blair apology

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair should apologize for a government spokesman's implication that a dead weapons expert at the center of a heated political dispute had overblown notions of his own importance, an opposition leader said Sunday.

Government weapons expert David Kelly, the suspected source of a British Broadcasting Corp. report that raised questions about Blair's case for war in Iraq, killed himself last month. The BBC subsequently confirmed that Kelly was the source for the report, which provoked vigorous denials from the government.

Blair spokesman Tom Kelly apologized Tuesday for having compared the late scientist to the fictional Walter Mitty, an ordinary man who dreamed of being a hero. The spokesman said his earlier comment did not signal a government campaign to discredit the dead weapons expert.

But Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith issued a statement accusing Tom Kelly of trying to cheapen the scientist's reputation at Blair's behest.

The BBC said David Kelly was the source for a May 29 report quoting an unidentified source as suggesting the government had ignored expert advice in claiming that Iraq could deploy chemical and biological weapons on 45 minutes notice.

That claim was included in an intelligence dossier released in September, and was a key part of Blair's justification for going to war to stop Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction.

Pressure on Blair has grown since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April, as occupying forces have found no evidence of such weapons. The uproar over Kelly's suicide has become the severest test for Blair since he took office six years ago.

Lord Hutton, a senior appeals judge, is leading the inquiry into Kelly's death, which formally opened Friday. The judge said he intends to call Blair and Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon to testify.

One aspect of Hutton's inquiry is the role played by the government in publicly suggesting that Kelly was the source of the BBC story, which led to Kelly's testifying before a House of Commons committee.