LONDON - The BBC confirmed Sunday that weapons expert David Kelly, whose body was found on Friday, was the source of its report that the British government embellished intelligence to justify war on Iraq.

"Over the past few weeks we have been at pains to protect Dr. Kelly being identified as the source of these reports," the BBC said in a statement.

"We clearly owed him a duty of confidentiality. Following his death, we now believe, in order to end the continuing speculation, it is important to release this information as swiftly as possible," it added.

Kelly, a Ministry of Defense consultant on biological weapons and a former UN arms inspector in Iraq, bled to death after apparently slashing his own wrist, police said Saturday.

His family said he had been under "intolerable pressure" after being grilled on Wednesday by a parliamentary committee examining the row over the BBC report in late May that a dossier on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction had been "sexed up" by aides to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Kelly denied being the source for the story but admitted briefing Andrew Gilligan, the BBC defense correspondent whose report triggered the bitter row between the government and the national broadcaster.

The BBC said it was "profoundly sorry" that Kelly's involvement as its source had ended in his death, but stood by its decision to air the report.

"We continue to believe we were right to place Dr. Kelly's views in the public domain," it said.

The broadcaster said it would fully cooperate with a judicial probe into Kelly's death.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters in Seoul on Sunday that he was ready to appear before a judicial inquiry into the death of Kelly.

"Of course there are things I will talk about to the inquiry, as will others," Blair said when asked whether he was disclosing all he knew about the affair.

Blair said earlier that he intended to stay in office and rejected demands to recall parliament from its summer recess.

Following the summit with Roh which focused on the North Korean nuclear crisis, Blair told journalists that the probe should be allowed to uncover the facts of the case in an atmosphere of restraint and respect.