Campbell denies ‘sexing up’ dossier

ONE of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s closest aides went before a parliamentary committee yesterday to deny any wrongdoing in controversial documents that made the case for war on Iraq.

Alastair Campbell, director of communications at Downing Street, testified that he never sought to "sex up" a September 2002 dossier on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.

Unnamed sources have told BBC radio that the 50-page document's sensational one-sentence claim that Iraq could deploy chemical or biological weapons in just 45 minutes was inserted under pressure from Downing Street to beef up the case for war.