A TOP-LEVEL MI5 investigation was launched to find the “mole” who leaked a confidential memo on the Iraq weapons dossier sent to Alastair Campbell from John Scarlett.

Among 130 documents released yesterday was a revelation that intelligence chiefs were concerned about the leak to The Sunday Times of Mr Scarlett’s memo. A front page article appeared on June 1, two days after Andrew Gilligan’s report, which suggested that a “key section” of the weapons dossier had been dropped.

The memo from John Scarlett to Alastair Campbell, sent on September 20, 2002, mentioned that the conclusion had indeed “been dropped”. The newspaper suggested that the memo to the Prime Minister’s closest aide showed how deeply Downing Street was involved in drawing up the dossier.

Documents released yesterday show that security chiefs carried out parallel investigations into the source of Mr Gilligan’s 45-minute claim and the leak to The Sunday Times.

The second investigation has not been concluded, according to the documents, although security chiefs have advised that the confidential memo may have been copied to so many people that the leaker could not be traced.

However, the documents highlight the security service’s concern that more papers, yet to be published, may have been leaked to the press.

The investigation proposed by Mr Scarlett was initiated on June 4 after consulting the head of the Security Policy Division (SPD). Its aim was to try to uncover the source who briefed Mr Gilligan and the person who leaked the memo from the Joint Intelligence Committee chairman to The Sunday Times.

While the investigation suggested early on that David Kelly could be Mr Gilligan’s source, it questioned whether he would have had access to the memo sent from Mr Scarlett to Mr Campbell. The secret services compiled a distribution list of those who could have seen the memo, which appeared in a report by Nick Fielding and Nicholas Rufford in The Sunday Times on June 1. Mr Scarlett did not want a formal leak inquiry, but on June 6 it was suggested that the “head of

T3” could offer an investigator to make preliminary inquiries.

The memo leaked to The Sunday Times was sent on September 20. “I attach the final draft version of the dossier taking into account additional comments from you and others received over the last 24 hours,” Mr Scarlett wrote. “The Prime Minister’s foreword is now incorporated within the overall document. The conclusion has been dropped,” it says. “I am confident that the text now reflects as fully and accurately as possible the intelligence picture on Saddam’s destruction weapons.”

Another memo from the SPD head — whose name is always blacked out — gives the investigation’s initial findings. The document, dated July 9 and sent to Mr Scarlett says: “Your memo of September 20 seems highly likely to have formed the basis of The Sunday Times report of June 1.” On Mr Gilligan’s source, the SPD head says: “The source appears to be an expert on current and recent past Iraq weapons capability, sufficiently well informed to give a statistical figure on that capability.”

By then Dr Kelly had admitted having had an unauthorised meeting with Mr Gilligan, although he denied being the source of the most damaging allegations.

A later confidential memo, dated July 21, from the SPD to Mr Scarlett, suggests that it may be impossible to identify the source.

Gilligan prompted 4th panel member

ANDREW GILLIGAN’S extensive attempts to influence the committee of MPs investigating his “sexing up” allegations were disclosed yesterday.

The BBC’s defence correspondent told a fourth MP on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee that David Kelly was the source of a Newsnight report criticising the weapons dossier, it emerged. New documents showed that he sent the same message to John Maples, a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and a committee member.

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