Print

Mail

wiki links

Hoon misled parliament, report says

A UK parliamentary committee has found Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon gave it ``misleading'' evidence about the government's use of intelligence on Iraqi weapons, a newspaper said yesterday.

The Ministry of Defense refused to comment on the report, saying it never discussed leaks.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, who gave Hoon a warm endorsement in the House of Commons, said his office had not leaked the report, which is to be published today.

According to the Evening Standard newspaper, the secretive Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said Hoon denied knowledge of any concerns among his department's intelligence staff about claims the government made in a dossier on Iraqi arms.

But the ISC report also quoted a memo from one of Hoon's officials, recommending the defense secretary tell the committee that concerns had been "fully aired," said the newspaper, which claimed to have received leaked details of the report.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Blair refused to comment directly on the report, saying that it would be inappropriate.

Hoon appeared before the ISC to give evidence on a September dossier on Iraqi weapons, which included a claim that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's forces could deploy chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes' notice.
This story has been viewed 1786 times.