British govt tried to 'supress' draft that criticised Israel

The British government sought to suppress an early draft of its controversial Iraq weapons dossier amid fears that it would offend Israel, it was reported today.

The Guardian reported that when the draft was eventually released earlier this week under the Freedom of Information Act, the reference to Israel – suggesting it had flouted the will of the United Nations like Saddam Hussein – was removed.

In a witness statement to the Information Tribunal, seen by the paper, a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) warned it was “inevitable” that Britain’s relations with Israel would suffer if it became public.

The FCO gave up its fight to withhold the draft, drawn up by the then head of press John Williams, after the Tribunal rejected its appeal against disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

British foreign secretary David Miliband said that the government had resisted disclosure in order to protect the confidentiality of advice given to ministers by officials.

However the witness statement by Neil Wigan, the head of the FCO’s Arab, Israel and North Africa Group referred to the comment on Israel, made in a handwritten note in the margin of the document.

“I interpret this note to indicate that the person who wrote it believes that Israel has flouted the United Nations’ authority in a manner similar to that of the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein,” he said, according to The Guardian.

He noted: “Unfortunately, there is perception already in Israel that parts of the FCO are prejudiced against the country”. The comment on the draft dossier “would therefore confirm this pre-existing suspicion and would increase the damage”.

Mr Wigan added that harming relations with Israel would undermine the FCO’s ability to prevent and resolve conflict “through a strong international system” while there was “an important national interest in relation to counterterrorism” to be considered.

The Foreign Office said that it did not comment on leaked reports.