Geldof scornful over misspent aid claims

The Band Aid Trust has said it will complain to the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom and the BBC Trust about a BBC report that alleged millions of pounds raised for famine relief was spent on weapons by a rebel group.

Geldof told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show yesterday: "There is not a single shred of evidence that Band Aid or Live Aid money was diverted."

A broadcast on the BBC World Service reported claims that 95 per cent of the $100 m in aid which went to the province of Tigray in 1985 was used by rebel forces to buy weapons.

The BBC report featured interviews with two former members of a rebel group in the northern Ethiopian province who made the allegations."

A Christian Aid spokeswoman confirmed it was planning to support the complaint to the BBC Trust.

Paul Brannen, head of advocacy and influence at the charity, said: "This story is a good example of how a lie can be halfway around the world before the truth has put its boots on.

"In this age of rapid and international communication it is more important than ever that the BBC independently verify all its facts before transmitting a story as potentially damaging as this one."

Andrew Whitehead, the news and current affairs editor at the World Service, said the BBC stood by its report.

Writing in the Editors blog on the BBC website, Mr Whitehead stated: "It presents evidence, compelling evidence, that some of the famine relief donations were diverted by a powerful rebel group to buy weapons."

Mr Whitehead defended the journalist, World Service's Africa editor Martin Plaut, who made the documentary, saying he had particular expertise in the Horn of Africa, reported from there on the famine in the 1980s, and spent almost a year gathering material and doing research.