Iraq report ‘was not sexed-up’

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office did not doctor an intelligence report on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction in order to exaggerate the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, a lawmaker involved in an official probe said yesterday.

Eric Illsley, part of a parliamentary committee investigating the government’s use of intelligence material to justify war in Iraq, said he was satisfied that Blair’s communications chief, Alastair Campbell, had not tampered with the dossier.

But fellow committee member John Maples said his colleague’s remarks were premature, adding the verdict may come soon.