BBC to apologise for aid-for-weapons reports

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON, Nov 4

The BBC will apologise on Thursday for reports this year which may have given the impression that millions of pounds raised for Ethiopian famine relief by the Band Aid music charity were used by rebel groups to buy weapons, the British state broadcaster said.

Irish singer Bob Geldof complained bitterly about the March reports, which originated from "Assignment" on the public-funded broadcaster's World Service radio programme.

He challenged the BBC to substantiate its stories. At the time the World Service said it stood by its report.

"Since their inception over 26 years ago, Band Aid and Live Aid have been subject to meticulous governance, auditing and independent reviews," Geldof said in a statement on Thursday.

"The BBC's misleading and unfair coverage had the potential to be extremely damaging to public faith, not only in Band Aid, but also other charitable campaigns and people's willingness to donate their cash to disaster funds."

Geldof added that the reports were an "unusual lapse" in the broadcaster's standards, and added that it was BBC journalist Michael Buerk's dispatches from Ethiopia which prompted him to start raising money for famine relief in the first place.

"I recognise the important journalistic and humanitarian role the BBC has played in our story," he said.

Geldof welcomed the BBC apology and hoped they would repair "some of the appalling damage done."

BBC accepts false impression

The BBC challenged some of the points made by the Band Aid Trust.

"Assignment did not make the allegation that relief aid provided by Band Aid was diverted," it said.

"However, the BBC acknowledges that this impression could have been taken from the programme. We also acknowledge that some of our related reporting of the story reinforced this perception.

"The BBC regrets this and accepts we should have been more explicit in making it clear that the allegations did not relate specifically to Band Aid. There will be on air apologies and corrections and we are looking at the lessons that can be learnt."

It added that an internal investigation validated the "main thrust" of the original report, which was that several sources provided evidence that rebels had diverted money intended for famine relief and that some of it was spent on weapons.

Geldof, along with Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, masterminded the recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 which featured some of the biggest acts of the time, topped the charts and sold millions of copies, donating the proceeds to Ethiopian famine relief.

They followed it up with Live Aid in 1985, a transatlantic concert which raised an estimated $100 million for Ethiopians.

And in 2005, Geldof staged Live 8, an international series of gigs which reached up to three billion people over the radio, Internet and television and which were designed to "make poverty history".

(Reuters)