The British Broadcasting Corporation said it had a tape of Dr David Kelly, the late scientist at the centre of the row over Britain's arms dossier, expressing concern about the way the government presented the Iraq weapons intelligence.

The science editor of Newsnight, Susan Watts, recorded her conversation with Dr Kelly, the BBC said on Wednesday.
It did not, however, discuss the content of the tape, which the BBC is expected to submit as part of its evidence to the judicial inquiry headed by Lord Hutton into Dr Kelly's death.

The BBC is thought to regard the tape as a useful part of its evidence, rather than the centrepiece.

Dr Kelly was found dead in woods near his Oxfordshire home last Friday.

The weapons expert apparently killed himself after coming under intense scrutiny following BBC reports that Iraqi weapons intelligence had been 'sexed up' by the government.

After his death, the BBC confirmed that Dr Kelly had been the source for three journalists who had reported concern among the intelligence community.

On Newsnight on June 2 and 4, Watts had quoted an unnamed source at length, as saying the government was 'obsessed with finding intelligence on immediate Iraqi threats'.

The source was reported as questioning the claim that Iraq could launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.