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Iraq row scientist buried
LONDON, England -- Family and friends of David Kelly held a private funeral at a church overlooking the spot where the British government weapons expert apparently committed suicide. The furor over Kelly's death continued to hit the headlines in Britain Wednesday, after Prime Minister Tony Blair's office issued an apology and a spokesman admitted calling the scientist a "Walter Mitty" character on the eve of his burial. Up to 160 mourners joined Kelly's widow, Janice, 58, his eldest daughter, Sian, 32, and twin daughters Ellen and Rachel, 30, for the service at St. Mary's Church in the Oxfordshire village of Longworth. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott represented the government at the funeral, which took place at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT). Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon earlier announced he would be unable to attend as he was on holiday with his family. Police set up a cordon to keep the media out of Longworth and nearby Southmoor, where Kelly lived, as the family sought to preserve the "privacy and dignity" of the occasion. The service -- conducted by vicar of St. Mary's, the Rev. Roy Woodhams -- featured elements of the Baha'i faith, which 59-year-old Kelly converted to four years ago while studying in the United States. Following the funeral, Kelly was being buried in the churchyard in the shadow of the north side of the building. Visible just over a mile away was Harrowdown Hill, where Kelly's body was found July 18 with his left wrist slashed. Last week, leading judge Lord Hutton opened his inquiry into death of Kelly, who was named as the mole for BBC reports that the government "sexed up" its dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction ahead of the war. Prescott wrote Tuesday to the Kelly family to apologize after a Downing Street spokesman admitted comparing the Nobel-nominated scientist to Walter Mitty, the protagonist of a 1941 story by American author James Thurber. The fictional Mitty is an ordinary man who dreams of being a hero. (Full story) Blair's official spokesman, Tom Kelly, offered an unreserved apology for his comments in an off-the-record briefing to journalists. He said he had not been attempting to undermine Kelly's credibility, but merely trying to outline the possible issues Hutton's inquiry would have to address. His apology did not satisfy former Labour minister Glenda Jackson, who called for the spokesman to be sacked. "It would seem that No. 10's capacity to disgust us would seem positively boundless," she told BBC radio Tuesday.
The row continued to dominate press coverage in Britain Wednesday. The Independent condemned the spokesman's remarks under the headline: "The low politics of this shabby attempt to discredit a distinguished scientist." A leading article in the Daily Mail was headed "Downing Street is in the gutter." Alongside the opinion column, the Mail carried an article by Alastair Hay, a colleague of the dead scientist, headed: "A Walter Mitty fantasist? No one was more driven by integrity and humanity than my friend David Kelly." A more restrained voice was The Guardian, which said that while Downing Street's spokesman did not come out of the affair well, David Kelly's reliability would be an issue at Hutton's inquiry.
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