BBC apologizes to Geldof over 'rebel arms money' report

Nov 4, 2010, 14:47 GMT

London - The BBC Thursday offered an apology to anti-poverty campaigner and singer Bob Geldof for implying in a report that money raised for his 1980s Band Aid charity was diverted to rebels in Ethiopia.

The claim that large sums of money were siphoned off from famine relief funds to enable rebels in Ethiopia's Tigray province to buy arms was made in the World Service's Assignment programme in March.

It was investigated by the BBC's editorial complaints unit.

A BBC statement, offering an unreserved apology, regretted the 'error' but stressed that the allegations had not related specifically to Band Aid - even though that 'impression could have been taken from the programme.'

'We note that the ruling validates the main thrust of the programme's journalism; that there was evidence from a number of sources that the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front had diverted money intended for famine relief and that some of it was spent on weapons.'

Geldof, 59, said he welcomed the apology and hoped that the 'public corrections can begin to repair some of the appalling damage done, and move forward. This was an unusual lapse in standards by the broadcaster and, most critically, the World Service.'