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Blair aide sets deadline for BBC apology

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON JUNE 27. The British Government was today embroiled in a fresh controversy over Iraq after the BBC accused it of bringing "unprecedented level of pressure" on it to apologise for a report alleging that the Prime Minister, Tony Blair's office had "sexed up" an intelligence dossier relating to the threat posed by the Saddam Hussein regime to justify an attack on Iraq.

In one of its worst stand-offs with the BBC since the Blair Government came to power six years ago, Mr. Blair's powerful Director of Communications, Alastair Campbell, set a deadline for the corporation to respond to a set of questions regarding its allegation, and publicly vowed not to give up until an apology was offered.

The BBC hit back saying it stood by its "entire story" and would not be `dictated' to by Downing Street.

Ironically, the showdown came even as the BBC was under attack from the Tories who called it the "Blair Broadcasting Corporation'' for its alleged pro-Labour `bias,' blaming it on its Director-General, Greg Dyke, a former Labour Party donor. The BBC sees it as a proof of its objectivity that it is being attacked both by the Right and the Left.

Downing Street has been riled by the BBC's deeply sceptical coverage of the Iraq war with Mr. Campbell accusing it of pursuing an `agenda.'

Mr. Campbell, who virtually runs the Prime Minister's office, played a crucial role in the preparation of an intelligence dossier which claimed that the Saddam regime had the capability to deploy its weapons of mass destruction within "45 minutes" — a claim which persuaded many anti-war MPs to change their mind and support the war.

The BBC in a report quoted an unnamed official, `involved' in the preparation of the dossier, as saying that the "45-minute" bit was included at the behest of Downing Street and was not in the original draft.

Mr Campbell, however, insists that it was there in the first draft as well.

The BBC, he says, must apologise for purveying a `lie.' But, given Mr. Campbell's reputation for `spin,' even the habitual critics of the BBC are sceptical about his claim.

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