Spy chief defends dossier
One of Britain’s top spymasters told the Hutton Inquiry on Monday that the controversial September dossier on Iraqi weapons was ‘reliable’.
Sir Richard Dearlove, who heads intelligence agency MI6, stood by the claim that Iraq had the capability to launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes as he gave evidence via audio link.
Sir Richard said he had first heard of the intelligence about the 45 minute claim towards the end of August last year, adding, “It did come from an established and reliable source equating a senior Iraqi military officer who was certainly in a position to know this information.”
He insisted that he had not seen a memo from a Ministry of Defence intelligence official raising concerns about the 45-minutes claim.
However, he admitted that “the misinterpretation that was placed on the 45 minute intelligence, with the benefit of hindsight you can say that is a valid criticism.”
Sir Richard revealed that he was involved in the preparation of the dossier as a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee and was kept closely informed of developments.
“Although I don’t have a precise recollection of every exchange, I was kept closely informed,” he told the inquiry.
Sir Richard’s public appearance is unprecedented. He spoke to the inquiry via audio link to maintain his anonymity.
The first witness to give evidence on Monday was former deputy chief of Defence Intelligence Tony Cragg, who explained that he was in charge of managing the defence intelligence analysis staff at the time of the September dossier.
Asked if Dr Kelly had been in regular contact with the intelligence analysts, he replied: “Personally, I was unaware of this happening but I have discovered as a consequence of this investigation that he was in contact, from time to time, with members of my staff.”
He admitted that there had been some unhappiness among DIS staff about language used in the dossier but said that when he discussed the worries with the assessment staff at the Cabinet Office, he was told MI6 were satisfied there was a reliable source for the 45-minute claim.
Mr Cragg said the intelligence on the 45-minute claim “did not go into great detail … on the types of weapons” but was still “perfectly reputable”.
Air Marshal Sir Joe French, head of Defence Intelligence Staff at the time the September dossier was drafted, also appeared before the inquiry on Monday and insisted that he was happy with the document’s content.
Asked about the 45 minute claim, Sir Joe said: “Put in a military context – that you could have various readiness states, the ultimate being instant readiness – I am afraid as a military man the fact that 45 minutes was mentioned did not surprise me at all within this consideration.”
Dr Kelly apparently committed suicide after becoming embroiled in a row between the BBC and the government over allegations of weapons intelligence tampering in the lead up to the Iraq war.
