David Kelly post mortem to be kept secret for 70 years as doctors accuse Lord Hutton of concealing vital information / Daily Mail

The Chilcot Inquiry into the facts surrounding the decision for Great Briitain to enter the Iraq War has now been lobbed a ball it probably can't duck.

A group of physicians have asked for release of data--including autopsy reports--on the death of David Kelly. Kelly, a WMD expert, told the BBC that Blair's government had "sexed up" a report on Iraq's WMD: that there was no evidence for the claim that nuclear weapons could be sent overseas by Saddam Hussein within 45 minutes. Shortly thereafter he was found dead in the woods near his home.

His death was not explained satisfactorily. Now it turns out that Lord Hutton, who convened an earlier inquiry into Kelly's death that many regard as a cover-up, sealed all the records for 70 years. This new fact seems to clinch Hutton as a cover-upper.

Now the Chilcot hearing will almost certainly need to delve into the circumstances of Kelly's death, and behind all that is the role Labor Party leaders may have had in it. So far, Chilcot has dodged the entire issue of Kelly.

UPDATE: The TimesOnline (and other UK media) have reported that Lord Hutton will be making classified documents available to the 5 doctors investigating Kelly's death. The Times site has a nice clickable summary of the witnesses' testimony at the Chilcott hearing, where Tony Blair dodged and prevaricated on Jan. 29.