The British government is in crisis following the apparent discovery of the body of a defence official at the centre of a row over Iraq. Dr David Kelly was the suspected source behind a BBC report that Downing St communications director Alastair Campbell "sexed up" a dossier setting out the case for war.
The ex-weapons inspector was publicly grilled by MPs probing the claims on Tuesday after being named as the possible source by Defence Secretary GeoffHoon.
Dr Kelly, 59, left his Oxfordshire home for a walk yesterday afternoon but never returned.
A judicial inquiry into the death has been announced after a body matching hisdescription was found in woodland five miles away this morning.
His wife Janice told a friend he was "very, very stressed and unhappy aboutwhat had happened and this was really not the kind of world he wanted to livein".
His close friend Tom Mangold tonight cast fresh doubt about the accusationsmade by BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan.
Mr Mangold said the scientist had come to believe he was the source but hadnot mentioned a key claim used in the report.
"I guess he couldn't cope with the firestorm that developed after he gavewhat he regarded as a routine briefing to Gilligan," he said.
Tony Blair was told of the development on a flight between Washington and Tokyo during his latest diplomatic trip.
Mr Campbell is believed to have already done so, returning to London onThursday night.
Dr Kelly's death raises fresh questions about Mr Campbell's future at Number10 and Mr Hoon also faces questions about how the Ministry of Defence named oneof its own officials as a possible source for the BBC report.
Mr Gilligan accused Mr Campbell of inserting a claim that Saddam Hussein coulddeploy weapons of mass destruction in 45 minutes into the Iraq dossier,published last September.
It was included against the wishes of intelligence officers and the Governmentprobably knew it was untrue, he claimed.
That was rejected by the Ministers and secret service chiefs, who said it waspassed by the Joint Intelligence Committee.However, Mr Gilligan insisted that was what he had been told by a seniorintelligence source who was an expert in weapons of mass destruction.
Dr Kelly, a weapons expert who worked as a UN inspector in Iraq, was firstnamed by newspapers on July 9.He had met Mr Gilligan in the Charing Cross Hotel, London, a week before theRadio 4 Today programme report.
The MoD confirmed that he had come forward as a contact of Mr Gilligan.Dr Kelly said he was not the source when he gave evidence to the CommonsForeign Affairs Committee and MPs concluded that was probably true.
But Ben Bradshaw, the Blairite junior environment minister, said later thatday that in the absence of a denial by the BBC it should be assumed that hewas.
During the intense hearing, Dr Kelly was pushed to give the names of otherjournalists he had met and was asked for a list by the end of the week.
Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay told the scientist he was "chaff", thrown up bythe MoD to divert attention."Have you ever felt like the fall guy? You have been set up, haven't you?"the MP asked Dr Kelly.
Dr Kelly replied: "I accept the process that is happening."Mr Mangold, a television journalist, said he had spoken to Dr Kelly's wifethis morning.
"She told me he had been under considerable stress," he said."He was very very angry about what had happened at the committee, that hewasn't well, that he had been to a safe house, he hadn't liked that, he wantedto come home.
"She didn't use the word depressed, but she said he was very very stressedand unhappy about what had happened and this was really not the kind of world hewanted to live in."
Mr Mangold added: "If Dave Kelly is dead, he is dead because of somethingthat happened in journalism which means that we all have to look to ourconsciences."
Tory committee member Richard Ottaway demanded an inquiry at the highest levelinto the entire dossier row.
British government spin doctors used Dr Kelly as a distraction from the row overweapons claims, the Conservative MP said.
"Now that political machinations have actually, or could have, resulted inthe death of a potentially important person in this whole thing, I don't thinkit will help the Government one iota," he said."I think it brings into stark, stark exposure the role that the spin doctorsinside the Government and the Labour Party are handling this situation."
Committee chairman Donald Anderson defended the questioning by MPs."If it was strong, the criticisms appear to be more directed against theMinistry of Defence, rather than against him," he said.
"I concede of course it was wholly outside his normal experience, thereforemust have certainly been an ordeal for him."
The MP insisted there was "no way in which Government ministers can beblamed" for the way in which Dr Kelly's name became public.
However some of Dr Kelly's friends and neighbours disagreed.Steve Ward, of the Hinds Head pub close to his Abingdon home, last spoke to DrKelly when he called to cancel a game of cribbage on Friday.
"He's done nothing wrong. Since the story broke, the feeling here is thatGovernment cronies have been making a scapegoat out of somebody," the landlordsaid.
A BBC spokesman said: "We are shocked and saddened to hear what has happenedand we extend our deepest sympathies to Dr Kelly's family and friends.
"Whilst Dr Kelly's family await the formal identification, it would not beappropriate for us to make any further statement."
Mr Gilligan was not available for comment. He was last night accused ofchanging his story by MPs when he was again questioned about his claims by thecommittee.
Dr Kelly's body is expected to be formally identified tomorrow.
A post mortem examination was expected to take place at John RadcliffeHospital in Oxford tonight but police said possible causes of death may not bereleased until Sunday or Monday.
Dr Kelly leaves daughters Sian, 32, and 30-year-old twins Rachel and Ellen aswell as wife Janice.
PA