European press review

In the UK, the Hutton inquiry into the basis on which the UK went to war against Iraq is examined, while in French, a newspaper feels the country's health minister's position may be under threat following the deaths of many elderly people in this summer's heatwave.

In Denmark, one paper calls for a Swedish nuclear power station to be closed down, and a Czech paper looks at anti-corruption measures in the country.

Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel says the performance of the UK prime minister's director of communications, Alastair Campbell, in giving testimony to the Hutton inquiry was impressive, but probably not enough to "blow away the storm clouds gathering over Blair's head".

"Relaxed and witty, pettifogging and opinionated, evasive on decisive points" is how it describes "Blair's infamous spin doctor" in his defence of Downing Street's role in the drafting of the controversial Iraq dossier.

But the damage has been done, the paper believes.

Blair is a victim of his own unshakeable mission to persuade. He looks like a zealot and a false prophet Der Tagesspiegel

"The persuasiveness and clarity with which Blair explained his Iraq policy last year... have been replaced by the calculations of the propagandists."

The daily believes the inquiry has given the public an insight into the internal workings of the government which has made its perception of Mr Blair "more complicated and inevitably also more unsympathetic".

The prime minister's once formidable persuasive powers now lie in tatters, the paper says.

"Blair is a victim of his own unshakeable mission to persuade," it says, adding that "he looks like a zealot and a false prophet."

Russia's government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta is more forthright: "Behind the closed doors of Downing Street - that's where the Iraqi threat was concocted."

It says documentary evidence submitted to the inquiry over the last few days "allows the conclusion to be drawn that the dossier on Iraqi weapons was edited (or, if you prefer, censored) before being played as the trump card in the war game".

"And that evidence of a threat from Saddam was not only 'exaggerated' but didn't exist at all," the daily adds.

"The nation is eager to hear from Tony Blair in person just who concocted the decisive argument in favour of going to war," concludes Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

The heat is on

Leading French daily Le Monde says that the resignation of Surgeon-General Lucien Abenhaim over the heatwave-related deaths of an estimated 5,000 elderly people does not leave Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei in the clear.

"Mr Abenhaim is not your traditional scapegoat," the paper says. He is "a man of principles" who decided it was time to go when he heard the minister complain he had had "no warning" of the impending crisis.

And on stepping down, Mr Abenhaim made it clear that all the information available to his department had been passed on to the minister's office, the paper says.

The situation is all the more delicate for the minister, the paper stresses, because he cannot hide behind the usual separation of roles between politicians and civil servants.

The authority and credibility he has gained in government, it adds, "owe as much to his high reputation as a doctor as to his political expertise".

So "what used to be his asset has now become his liability", the paper concludes.

Nuclear no

News that the Swedish Nuclear Energy Inspectorate has asked the country's prosecuting authorities to investigate alleged criminal offences over the maintenance of the Barsebaeck nuclear power station, just across the Sound from Copenhagen, prompts Danish tabloid B.T. to call for the station to be decommissioned.

"It is difficult to accept that our sister nation has completely ignored Danish protests about Barsebaeck for many years", the paper says.

"You can discuss whether Danish nervousness is statistically justified, but it is real enough: a great number of Danes feel insecure about the power station.

"Now the nuclear power plant near Malmoe has been reported for a lack of safety.

"Shouldn't the Swedes take the opportunity to take Danish protests seriously and take steps to shut down the doleful plant?" the paper asks.

"The cocky attitude to nuclear power characterises Swedish society, which is hierarchical and politically correct to a degree that's almost painful."

War on corruption

People will continue to cheat and lie and will transfer their property to their relatives Mlada Fronta Dnes

The Czech daily Mlada Fronta Dnes says the country's interior ministry has proposed that civil servants, police officers and judges provide details of their assets as part of the "war against corruption".

"Pessimists will certainly object that statements of assets are meaningless and will not solve anything.

"People will continue to cheat and lie and will transfer their property to their relatives", the paper says.

"The problem of corruption will certainly not be resolved by introducing statements of assets," it points out even though it concedes that "they may help".

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.