BRITAIN: The BBC Board of Governors last night backed Director General Mr Greg Dyke and the corporation's news arm in the row with Downing Street over the Iraq dossier claims.
BBC chiefs met to shore up their defence after British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair accused the corporation of seriously attacking his integrity by alleging the dossier on Iraq's weapons had been "sexed up".
The meeting came ahead of today's publication of a parliamentary report on the allegations.
Dr Hans Blix, the UN chief weapons inspector who retired last week, yesterday said he had seen no evidence that Saddam Hussein could have launched a chemical or biological strike within 45 minutes - the intelligence claim at the centre of the row.
"In view of the fact they did not find anything at all over three months it [the 45 minute claim\] sounds a little unlikely," Dr Blix said.
His comments appeared to back the story by journalist Andrew Gilligan on Radio 4's Today programme on May 29th which cited disquiet among intelligence officials at the prominence given to the 45-minute claim in the September 2002 dossier.
The BBC board last night said "exceptional circumstances" allowed for the use of a single source for Andrew Gilligan's programme report about the dossier.
Mr Greg Dyke told the Observer: "We have not backed away from the story and we have not backed away from the journalist. He is fully supported. Nothing we said has yet been proved wrong."
The Prime Minister also showed no sign of backing down.
In an interview with the Observer, Mr Blair said: "The idea that I, or anyone else in my position frankly, would start altering intelligence evidence, or saying to the intelligence services I am going to insert this, is absurd.
"There couldn't be a more serious charge, that I ordered our troops into conflict on the basis of intelligence evidence that I falsified.
"I take it as about as serious an attack on my integrity there could possibly be, and the charge is untrue and I hope that they will accept that. I think they should accept it. You could not make a more serious charge against a Prime Minister."
A BBC spokesperson said: "We have never accused the Prime Minister of lying. We have never accused the Prime Minister of misleading the House of Commons or the country.