BBC apologises to Geldof over Band Aid claims

The BBC is to apologise to Band Aid founder Bob Geldof over claims that much of the money he helped raise through Band Aid and Live Aid ended up with rebel groups in Africa who may have used it to buy weapons.

Geldof was inspired to start raising money for the starving in Ethiopia after watching a BBC news report about the 1984 famine. But he was furious with the broadcaster over claims made this March on the World Service that implied some of the proceeds of the single Do They Know It's Christmas and the Live Aid concerts ended up in the hands of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front and was used to buy weapons. 

The singer, who had declined to appear on the Assignments show as he had not been made aware of the severity of the allegations being made, threatened to sue the corporation after listening to the programme.

The claims were repeated across the BBC's stations and on its website and Geldof said they had done "appalling damage" to the charity he founded.

The BBC editorial complaints unit accepted that its story, which came after an investigation by Africa Editor Martin Plaut, may have given the "impression" that money ended up being spent on weapons.

The corporation's apology will be read out on BBC One, the BBC News Channel, Radio 4 and the World Service this evening. It accepts that several BBC programmes "included statements to the effect that millions of pounds raised by Band Aid and Live Aid for famine relief in Ethiopia had been diverted by a rebel group to buy weapons".

It continues: "The BBC has investigated these statements and concluded that there was no evidence for them. The BBC wishes to make clear that these statements should not have been broadcast, and to apologise unreservedly to the Band Aid Trust for the misleading and unfair impression which was created." ·