Gilligan apologises to Hutton inquiry

[Khephra]

Gilligan apologises to Hutton inquiry
Hutton inquiry: Day 18
PA
17 September 2003


Andrew Gilligan, the BBC journalist whose report accused Downing Street of 'sexing up' the Government's Iraqi arms document, offered two apologies to the Hutton inquiry today.

He said it had been "quite wrong" to reveal another journalist's source in an e-mail to a Liberal Democrat member of the Common Foreign Affairs Committee

Mr Gilligan said:"I can only apologise. I did not even know for sure that David Kelly was (Newsnight reporter) Susan Watts's source.

"I was under an enormous amount of pressure at the time, I simply was not thinking straight so I really want to apologise for that."

more............

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=444264

[emad]

1. Sounds like someone's been leaning on him....

more :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3114738.stm

[ze_dscherman]

2. Guardian: Gilligan accused over Kelly description

BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan was today accused of exaggerating David Kelly's role in drawing up last September's Iraq dossier in order to give more weight to his story that the government "sexed up" the document.
During an aggressive and sustained interrogation at the Hutton inquiry by counsel for the government, Johnathan Sumption QC, Gilligan was repeatedly questioned about how he had described Dr Kelly during his reports for Radio 4's Today programme and other BBC news outlets on May 29, and in earlier evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and the Hutton inquiry.

SNIP

http://media.guardian.co.uk/huttoninquiry/story/0,13812,1043928,00.html