Kelly inquest calls 'outrageous'

A FRIEND and former colleague of Dr David Kelly has said it would be "outrageous" to hold an inquest into his death in the absence of new evidence.

Professor Christian Seelos, who worked alongside the British scientist as a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq, said calls for a fresh examination of the case appeared to be "totally politically motivated".

Dr Kelly's body was found in woods near his Oxfordshire home in July 2003, shortly after it was revealed he was the source of a BBC report casting doubt on a Government dossier claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could be launched within 45 minutes.

Prof Seelos rejected demands for a full inquest to look again at Dr Kelly's death. "I think this is outrageous. I have not seen in the media any piece of evidence that would support re-opening the case," he said. "To me it seems this is totally politically motivated. If there is any evidence that supports the possibility that there was something unlawful going on, then of course we need to reopen the case. But I don't see any basis for doing that."

Nicholas Hunt, the Home Office pathologist who performed the post-mortem examination on Dr Kelly, said earlier this month that it was a "textbook case" of suicide.

But there are growing calls, backed by former Conservative leader Michael Howard, for a full inquest to be held to examine apparent discrepancies in circumstances of the scientist's death.