British Prime Minister Tony Blair's top aide and pugnacious media handler Alastair Campbell announced his resignation yesterday in a shock decision that comes amid the worst crisis of the British premier's six-year rule.
Campbell, 46, had been widely expected to quit later this year but the timing of his announcement -- while both he and Blair are enmeshed in a high-stakes inquiry into the government case for war in Iraq -- caught political observers short.
His announcement comes mid-way through the Hutton inquiry that is looking into the death of government weapons adviser David Kelly, who apparently committed suicide after being identified as the source of a BBC report on the British government's Iraq policy.
In the resignation statement issued by Blair's 10 Downing Street office, Campbell said his family had paid a price for his role and said his partner, Fiona Millar, would be leaving No 10 at the same time "in a few weeks."
"We agreed on April 7 this year that I would definitely leave this summer and I have now given the prime minister formal notice of my decision to leave," Campbell said.
A Downing Street spokesman said Campbell would not be leaving his job immediately but gave no date for his departure.
His successor was not named, the prime minister's office said.
"It has been an enormous privilege to work so closely in opposition and in government for someone I believe history will judge as a great transforming prime minister," he said.
Blair described Campbell as "an immensely able, fearless, loyal servant of the cause he believes in who was dedicated not only to that cause but to his country ... he was, is, and will remain a good friend."
So far Campbell's version of events -- that he did not "sex up" the September dossier cataloguing Iraq's alleged WMD programs -- has been backed up by John Scarlett, the head of the joint intelligence committee.
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