The BBC came under fire last week for its part in the death of a British arms expert after confirming that he was the source of its report that the Government had "sexed up" evidence to justify the war in Iraq. Lawmakers of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party lashed out at the national broadcaster for its conduct during a bitter dispute over its report that the government embellished its intelligence on Iraq’s weapons programmes.

The BBC, which had previously refused to name its source, said it was "profoundly sorry" over the death of former U. N. weapons inspector and defence ministry consultant David Kelly, but stood by its decision to air the report. "We continue to believe we were right to place Dr. Kelly’s views in the public domain," it said.

Kelly, 59, was found dead on July 18 after apparently committing suicide following a grilling earlier in the week from a parliamentary committee examining the accusations—hotly denied by Blair’s office—that a key dossier last September on Iraq had exaggerated the threat of Saddam Hussein’s arsenal.

While he denied being the primary source for the May 29 BBC story, Kelly admitted briefing Andrew Gilligan, the BBC defence correspondent whose report triggered the furore. Gilligan, who has come under fire from lawmakers, said that he did not distort what Kelly had told him. "I want to make it clear that I did not misquote or misrepresent Dr. David Kelly," said a BBC statement issued on behalf of Gilligan.

"Entirely separately from my meeting with him, Dr. Kelly expressed very similar concerns about Downing Street’s interpretation of intelligence in the dossier," the statement said.

But the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, which has been probing the disputed dossiers, said there was a "fundamental conflict" between the evidence given to the committee by Kelly and Gilligan.

"I think the BBC has got to look at itself long and hard now after Andrew Gilligan’s latest evidence to the foreign affairs committee," Labour M. P. Donald Anderson said.

The BBC, which prides itself for its reputation for rigorous journalistic standards and an independent viewpoint, is no stranger to clashes with the government.

Margaret Thatcher’s government had criticised the broadcaster’s coverage of the Falklands War in 1982, though the BBC stood its ground and retained the support of voters. Nevertheless, the broadcaster’s naming of its source turned some of the glare of the media spotlight away from Blair.

The Prime Minister, grappling with the biggest crisis of his political career, has been dogged by the burgeoning scandal on his trip to East Asia, even facing calls for his resignation from within his own party.

But Blair, who has previously accused the BBC of having committed "an attack on my integrity", adopted a more conciliatory tone, saying he was "pleased" the broadcaster had named Kelly as its source. "I am pleased the BBC has made this announcement," he said in a statement following a summit with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun. "Whatever the differences, no one wanted this tragedy to happen. I know everybody including the BBC, has been shocked by it."

"The independent Hutton inquiry has been set up. It will establish the facts. In the meantime, our attitude should be one of respect and restraint, no recriminations, with the Kelly family uppermost in our minds."

Even before the BBC’s statement on Kelly, however, allies of Blair had relaunched the war of words with the broadcaster.

Writing in The Observer, Peter Mandelson, a former British minister close to Blair, hit out at the BBC’s "obsession" with attacking the Prime Minister’s communications chief, Alastair Campbell.

Gerald Kaufman, a Labour M. P. who chairs the Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee, meanwhile said the BBC should be brought under the new Ofcom communications watchdog.

"The BBC has behaved deplorably and there are serious implications for its future," he said. Meanwhile, the family of Kelly has accused the British Prime Minister of hounding him to his death.

Blair said last week he "absolutely" intended to remain in office despite the crisis and ruled out a call by the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Iain Duncan Smith, to recall parliament following the discovery of Kelly’s body near his Oxfordshire home. Kelly, who had been sucked into a dispute over whether officials in Blair’s office had hyped intelligence on Iraq to justify war, had slashed his left wrist. His family made it clear that it wanted someone to shoulder the blame for his despair.

"Events over recent weeks have made David’s life intolerable and all of those involved should reflect long and hard over that fact," they said in a statement.

Special Branch detectives from Scotland Yard have sealed off Kelly’s Whitehall offices as part of a wide-ranging criminal investigation into why the Ministry of Defence scientist died.

As police continued their detailed search of the microbiologist’s home, they said they believed nobody else was involved in his death.

Blair, clearly stricken by news of Kelly’s death, has urged politicians and the media to hold back from speculating about the affair until a judicial inquiry investigates it. One of Blair’s former junior ministers, one-time actor Glenda Jackson, has urged him to resign. The Prime Minister told Britain’s Sky News in an interview last week from the Japanese spa town of Hakone that recalling the House of Commons, which rose for the summer, "would generate more heat than light".