Dr Kelly denied he was the main source for Andrew Gilligan's story

England have

A body believed to be that of government scientist Dr David Kelly has been found in woodland not far from his Oxfordshire home.

The discovery was made at 0920 BST by a member of the police team called into search for Dr Kelly after his family reported him missing last night.

Dr Kelly has been at the centre of a row between the British Government and the BBC about the use of intelligence reports in the run up to the war against Iraq.

The row centred on a report by journalist Andrew Gilligan during the Today programme on BBC Radio Four in which he said the government had "sexed-up" its dossier on Iraq to boost public support for the war.

Intense scrutiny

He accused the government of inserting a claim into thedossierthat Saddam Hussein was capable of deploying weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes

On Tuesday Dr Kelly - an expert in arms control who had worked as a weapons inspector in Iraq between 1991 and 1998 - told the Foreign Affairs select committee he had spoken to Mr Gilligan but denied he was the main source for the story.

Dr Kelly left his home in Southmoor, Abingdon, at about 1500 BST on Thursday to go for a walk. His family reported him missing at 2345 BST the same day.

The government has announced an inquiry will be held, headed by law lord Lord Hutton, to investigate the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's death.

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was on a flight to Tokyo on the first leg of a Far East tour when he was told the body had been found.

He was said to be "very distressed" for the Kelly family.

Dr Kelly has been under intense media scrutiny since the Ministry of Defence said he had come forward to say he had had a meeting with Mr Gilligan.

The MoD said Dr Kelly had at no time been threatened with dismissal or suspension for speaking to Mr Gilligan.

A spokesman said it had been made clear to Dr Kelly that he had broken civil service rules by having unauthorised contact with a journalist, but "that was the end of it".

Downing Street said Dr Kelly had been warned his name was likely to become public because he was one of only a small number of people who could have been the source.

Dr Kelly and his wife, Janice, have three daughters, Sian, 32, and twins Rachel and Ellen, 30.

Cahill is too young for a death sentence

Patricia Cahill, 17, and Karen Smith, 18, were stopped by customs officials at Bangkok airport trying to board a flight to Amsterdam.

They found nearly 70lb (32kg) of powdered heroin with a street value of about ?m hidden in shampoo bottles and coffee and biscuit tins.

The girls claim they did not know what was in the containers, given to them by a third person.

They are denying the allegations being made against them.

The British consulate in Bangkok has appointed a solicitor to represent Ms Cahill and Ms Smith in the Thai courts.

Drug trafficking is punishable by death in Thailand but foreigners usually have this sentence commuted.

Under Thai law Ms Cahill is too young to be executed.

Speaking from his home in Birmingham Ms Cahill's father did not even know his daughter had left the country. Patrick Cahill thought she was holidaying in Scotland.

He said that Patricia was "dead against drugs, she was dead against abortions and things like that."

The poppy fields of the so-called 'Golden Triangle' - between Thailand, Laos and Burma - have attracted drug smugglers since the 1960s.

Thailand has responded to international pressure to control the illicit trade by enforcing harsh sentences and searching all baggage leaving the country.

Ten years ago British nurse Ruth Nightengale served 18 months of a 20 year sentence for heroin smuggling in Thailand before her release after receiving a royal pardon.

dossier : a collection of papers giving detailed information about a particular person or subject（檔案；卷宗）