Reporter in BBC Probe Resigns

BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan resigned Friday after an inquiry repudiated his report that the British government had “sexed up” intelligence on Iraq.

BBC Chairman Gavyn Davies and Director-General Greg Dyke quit this week, and the BBC has apologized to the government.

Gilligan also apologized Friday for mistakes in his May 2003 reporting, but criticized Lord Justice Brian Hutton’s findings.

“The BBC collectively has been the victim of a grave injustice.... I accept my part in the crisis which has befallen the organization. But a greater part has been played” by Hutton’s unbalanced report, Gilligan said.

The judge was appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair to investigate the suicide of David Kelly, a scientist caught up in the dispute between the government and the BBC about the case for war in Iraq. Hutton said the BBC was wrong when it quoted an anonymous source as saying officials had inflated intelligence to justify war. Kelly killed himself after being unmasked as the source of Gilligan’s report.

Gilligan said: “If Lord Hutton had fairly considered the evidence he heard, he would have concluded that most of my story was right. The government did sex up the dossier, transforming possibilities and probabilities into certainties, removing vital caveats.”