IraqGate- Kelly's last Email: "Many dark Actors playing Games"

posted by ewing2001 on Saturday July 19, @07:39AM

Kelly warned of 'dark actors playing games'

Ananova -July 19th

Weapons expert Dr David Kelly reportedly told of "many dark actors playing games" in an email to a journalist hours before his suicide.

The words appeared to refer to officials at the Ministry of Defence and UK intelligence agencies with whom he had sparred over interpretations of weapons reports, according to the New York Times.

The message gave no indication that he was depressed and said he was waiting "until the end of the week" before judging how his appearance before the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee had gone.

The newspaper did not name the recipient of the email.

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It said another associate had received a "combative" message from Dr Kelly shortly before he left his Oxfordshire home for the last time on Thursday.

The scientist said in the email that he was determined to overcome the scandal surrounding him and was enthusiastic about the possibility of returning to Iraq.

Dr Kelly was grilled by MPs last week over his comments to reporters about the use of intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq. He had denied being the main source for a BBC story about claims that a dossier on Iraq had been "sexed up" to boost public support for military action.

"...In an e-mail message to a reporter sent hours before he left for his walk, Dr. Kelly gave no indication that he was depressed. He said he was waiting "until the end of the week" before judging how his appearance before the committee had gone, and referred to "many dark actors playing games."

Based on earlier conversations with Dr. Kelly, the words seemed to refer to people within the Ministry of Defense and Britain's intelligence agencies with whom he had often sparred over interpretations of intelligence reports.

Another associate who also received an e-mail message sent by Dr. Kelly shortly before he left the house said the message was combative and expressed a determination to overcome the scandal encircling him and an enthusiasm about returning to Iraq..."

Italy Journalist Says Gave U.S. Iraq-Niger Papers

Reuters -Sat Jul 19

An Italian journalist said in an interview published Saturday she gave documents on Iraq seeking uranium from Niger to the U.S. embassy in Rome in 2002 to try to find out if the information was credible...

...Elisabetta Burba, a journalist with Italian current affairs weekly Panorama, said it was she who handed over the papers to the U.S. embassy in October 2002 after acquiring them from a source she could not name but who was not linked to Italian secret services.

"I knew the documents could represent a huge world scoop...but there were many details that I found unconvincing," Burba said in an interview with daily Corriere della Sera.

She said after checks in Niger failed to satisfy her that the documents were reliable, Panorama decided not to publish the story.

Burba, meanwhile, had given the documents to U.S. embassy officials in Rome to try to find out if they were credible..."

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