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BBC Response on Iraq Intelligence Sources

- Andrew Gilligan responds to a letter from Donald Anderson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, regarding Gilligan's testimony about his reporting on the British government's dossier on Iraq's weapons. - Gilligan refuses to provide any information about his source for the report, citing his duty of confidentiality as a journalist. - He confirms that two claims his source made that were later corroborated by the committee's proceedings - that the 45 minute claim came from one informant and was added late in the process of compiling the dossier.

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54 views1 page

BBC Response on Iraq Intelligence Sources

- Andrew Gilligan responds to a letter from Donald Anderson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, regarding Gilligan's testimony about his reporting on the British government's dossier on Iraq's weapons. - Gilligan refuses to provide any information about his source for the report, citing his duty of confidentiality as a journalist. - He confirms that two claims his source made that were later corroborated by the committee's proceedings - that the 45 minute claim came from one informant and was added late in the process of compiling the dossier.

Uploaded by

Bren-R
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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British Broadcasting Corporation Room G630 Stage 6 Television Cent-e Wood Lane London WI2 7RJ

Telephone C20 8624 9644 Fax 020 8624 9630 E-Mall today@bbc co uk

News

The Today Programme

Donald Anderson
Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee
House of Commons _
London 5W1A OAA

11 July 2003

Dear Mr Anderson, ---

Thank you for your letter .

I regret that, as I said to the Committee vvhen I gave evidence, I can provide no further
information about my source, or the circumstances surrounding my contact with him,
because I have a professional and legal duty of confidence to him . Committee rnembers
appeared to accept and even support this stance when I came before you last rnonth . Not
discussing confidental sources is general BBC policy and universal 3ournalistic practice .

The Ministry of Defence has suggested that someone it describes as a middle- ~ar-i king
official, tangentially involved in the dossier, is my source . Can I remind the Cornmlttee of
two of my source's claims whlcn your proceedings confirmed to be true - that the 45-
minute point derived from one, uncorroborated informant; and that it arrived late in the
process . Such facts could only have been known to someone closely involved in compiling
the dossier until a late stage .

On your second question, I am happy to confirm that my evidence was truthful and
accurate . The transcript (Q405-6) makes clear that when I spoke of four different sources I
was enumerating the number of people within the intelligence community who had
expressed disquiet to me over the Government's handling of intelligence on Iraq. I should
probably also have repeated this in my response to Q417.

I have also discussed the issue of Iraq, the dossier and WMD with many of my other
contacts within Government . Some of those conversa°-ions were attemats to corroborate
elements of the story provided to me by my original source. As a defence correspondent I
hold many meetings, authorised and unauthorised . with people who work for the Ministry
of Defence .

I hope this is helpful .

Yours sincerely,

Andrew Gilligan

~, 1~l~-A 1 l Oo^1 J

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