British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday he would resign if an imminent report into the suicide of a government expert on Iraq finds that he lied about the incident.

Senior Judge Lord Hutton is due to publish his report into the death of weapons expert David Kelly in coming weeks and is likely to apportion some blame to the government for Dr Kelly's death, which rocked Mr Blair's premiership last year.

Dr Kelly killed himself in July after the government outed him as the source of a BBC report that claimed Mr Blair had inflated the threat from Iraq's armament to justify the conflict.

His death and the Lord Hutton inquiry unleashed months of speculation about Mr Blair's role in driving Dr Kelly to kill himself and about the primary reason given for the US-led Iraq war - its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Asked if he stood by the principle that a minister should resign if found lying, Mr Blair told the BBC Television: "Of course."

"These are very serious allegations that the Conservative Party and parts of the media are making against the prime minister," Mr Blair said in an interview.

He added that he was "enthusiastic" about the chance to confront his opponents over the Lord Hutton report.

Mr Blair's critics accuse him of lying over the Dr Kelly affair. Ministry of Defence official Sir Kevin Tebbit told the Lord Hutton inquiry that Mr Blair had chaired a meeting where it was decided to make a statement clarifying the government's position - a move that led to Dr Kelly's exposure.

Days after Dr Kelly's death, Mr Blair emphatically denied authorising the leaking of the scientist's name to the media.

The Iraq war and Dr Kelly's suicide last year plunged Mr Blair into the worst period of his premiership as his critics took him to task over the failure to find any banned weapons in Iraq. Mr Blair's popularity and public trust ratings sank.

Mr Blair said Lord Hutton's findings will be final and pledged that he would not "hide away" from a debate with his opponents on the report.

"What the judge finds will be of huge persuasive importance for the public, for parliament and I hope for the media," Mr Blair said. "It's final... I think speculation comes to an end with the report."

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