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UK officials censored draft dossier critical of Israelis

British officials censored a recently released draft dossier on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) for fear it would harm relations with Israel, the Guardian reported yesterday.

Britain argued it was "inevitable" that British-Israeli relations would suffer if a reference in the draft was made public, the newspaper said.

It cited the full text of a witness statement submitted by a senior foreign ministry official to the Information Tribunal.

The draft, drawn up by then Foreign Office communications director John Williams in 2002, and classified "confidential," had been the subject of a request under freedom of information laws.

It was finally released to the public earlier this week.

The Guardian reported that before the draft's release, the foreign ministry appealed to the Information Tribunal, which rules on freedom of information disputes, to conceal the Israel reference.

The reference was reportedly written in the margin by an unknown person commenting on the opening paragraph of the dossier.

It appeared beside a claim that "no other country [aside from Iraq] has flouted the United Nations' authority so brazenly in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction."

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear warheads although it has never confirmed or denied it.

In a statement to the tribunal, Neil Wigan, the head of the foreign ministry's Arab, Israel and North Africa group, said: "Unfortunately, there is perception already in Israel that parts of the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] are prejudiced against the country."

The Israel reference in the draft dossier "would therefore confirm this pre-existing suspicion and would increase the damage," he said.
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