Tony Blair called for restraint

Dr David Kelly, 59, was the suspected mole behind a BBC report that Downing Street communications director Alastair Campbell "sexed up" a dossier setting out the case for war.

A senior officer said a knife and a packet of painkillers had been found close to where his body was discovered in woodland near his home in Oxfordshire on Friday.

Dr Kelly's family said he was a "loving, private and dignified" man, adding that recent events had made his life "intolerable".

All of those involved should reflect long and hard Kelly family statement in full Kelly warned of 'actors' games' John Pienaar analysis

The government will now hold an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death.

The prime minister has faced tough questions over the government's handling of the affair.

He was asked if he had Dr Kelly's death on his conscience during a press conference in Hakone, Japan - the first leg of his Far East tour.

But Mr Blair would only express his "deep sorrow" for Dr Kelly and his family and said: "I don't think it is right for anyone, ourselves or anybody else, to make a judgment until we have the facts."

He called for "respect and restraint" until the full circumstances were known.

Mr Blair also refused to be drawn when asked if defence secretary Geoff Hoon or Mr Campbell should resign.

Another reporter shouted: "Have you got blood on your hands Mr Prime Minister? Are you going to resign over this?"

The BBC's political correspondent Guto Harri said the prime minister looked under "enormous emotional strain".

Co-operation

In a statement Mr Hoon said the death of Dr David Kelly was "shocking and tragic".

"It is only right that we do our utmost to establish the full circumstances surrounding this tragedy," he said.

"Accordingly, the government has invited the Right Honourable The Lord Hutton urgently to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly.

"The government will provide Lord Hutton with the fullest co-operation and expects all other authorities and parties to do the same."

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Hoon said he took the welfare of all his staff seriously but did not accept that he had put pressure on Dr Kelly directly.

Knife recovered

Confirming Dr Kelly's death, acting superintendent David Purnell said: "A post-mortem has revealed that the cause of death was haemorrhaging from a wound to his left wrist.

"The injury is consistent with having been caused by a bladed object.

"We have recovered a knife and an open packet of Co-Proxymol tablets at the scene."

He said police inquiries were continuing but there was no indication at this stage of any other party being involved.

MPs stunned by developments Judicial inquiry - past precedents

The judicial inquiry is expected to take a matter of weeks not months.

BBC political correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti says it is likely to look at Dr Kelly's contact with journalists, as well as how and why his name got into the public domain.

But Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith called on Mr Blair to broaden the inquiry with evidence taken under oath, witnesses compelled to give evidence, and with the committee given automatic access to documents.

Dr Kelly disappeared two days after being grilled by the Commons foreign affairs select committee as part of its inquiry into the use of intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

He told MPs he had spoken to BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan.

But denied he was the main source for a story about claims that a dossier on Iraq had been "sexed up" to boost public support for military action.

David Kelly gave evidence to MPs earlier this week

"My fear was that for anyone giving evidence to a select committee there is obvious pressure and stress," he told the BBC.

"I wanted to make sure for someone who had not been through that before, that the committee chairman recognised this fact."

Commons foreign affairs committee chairman Donald Anderson defended the questioning by MPs.

"If it was strong, the criticisms appear to be more directed against the Ministry of Defence, rather than against him," he said.

Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay apologised for "any stress" his combative questioning at the hearing had "unintentionally" caused Dr Kelly.

Resignation call

The former Labour minister Glenda Jackson said blame lay with Downing Street, who used a battle with the BBC to divert attention from the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

She said Tony Blair's credibility had been "holed below the waterline" and it was time for him to resign.

Dr Kelly's local MP Robert Jackson said the BBC's role should also be questioned.

"The pressure was significantly increased by the fact the BBC refused to make it clear he was not the source," the Tory MP for Wantage said.

A BBC spokesman said: "We are shocked and saddened to hear what has happened and we extend our deepest sympathies to Dr Kelly's family and friends."

Dr Kelly is survived by his wife, Janice, and three daughters Sian, 32, and 30-year-old twins Rachel and Ellen.