HAKONE (Japan), July 19: British Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to say on Saturday whether he might resign over the death of David Kelly, an expert at the centre of a dispute over Iraq’s weapons programmes.

Asked at the end of a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi whether he had “blood on his hands” and might stand down, Mr Blair refused to answer.

Instead, he stared silently out on a room full of journalists and television cameras for several tense seconds and then, with Mr Koizumi at his side, left.

Minutes earlier, Mr Blair had declined to say whether he had discussed with his defence secretary Geoff Hoon, or with his close aide and media wizard Alastair Campbell, their possible resignations.

He only repeated the statement he gave earlier on Saturday on the death of Mr Kelly, 59, the biological weapons expert at the centre of a furore in Britain over claims that Mr Blair and his team had misused intelligence to beef up their case for war on Iraq.

“I totally understand why you would like me to go back into what I said earlier,” said the British premier in response to a previous question at the press conference in the Japanese mountain resort of Hakone.

“But I think what is important is that there is some due process, and the reason for having an inquiry (into Mr Kelly’s death) — and I think people would have expected us to have one because of the tragedy that has occurred — is so that the facts can be established,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s right for anyone, ourselves or anybody else, to make a judgment until we have the facts.”

Mr Kelly’s body was found in woods near his home in Oxfordshire, on Friday.—AFP