Senior figures caught up in the Dr David Kelly affair have been awarded top honours.

Officials who were involved in the Iraq dossier and the decision to name the weapons expert were among those named in the Iraq honours list on Friday.

They are among 400 medals awarded to both military and civilian personnel who were involved in Britain's war effort.

The list is likely to spark controversy as the Hutton inquiry into the death of weapons expert Dr Kelly has yet to deliver its verdict.

It was announced that Cabinet Office official Julian Miller, who was chief of the assessment staff, has been awarded a CBE.

Miller was among the witnesses to the Hutton inquiry and said that the now-infamous Iraq intelligence dossier had not been "transformed" on the orders of former Downing Street spin chief Alastair Campbell.

"I don't think there was a transformation a week before publication, and certainly changes such as the inclusion of the reference to 45 minutes were nothing to do with Number 10," he told the inquiry.

And Peter Ricketts, the former political director of the Foreign Office and now Britain's ambassador to NATO, receives the KCMG.

He, along with foreign secretary Jack Straw's press secretary John Williams, both believed Dr Kelly should be named as the unauthorised source of BBC briefings.

Downing Street foreign policy expert Matthew Rycroft, who played a key role in the strategy for the Iraq dossier, receives the CBE.

Emails to the Hutton inquiry reveal he was one of the main liaison points who highlighted the potential threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

"Part of the answer to 'why now?' is that the threat will only get worse if we don't act now - the threat that Saddam will use WMD, but also the threat that Iraq's WMD will somehow get into the hands of terrorists," he wrote.

The Downing Street spin doctor Simon Wren, who was sent to the Qatar HQ to brief UK journalists, is also awarded the CBE.

Wren made headlines after being openly critical of the way US officials were briefing reporters.

He sent a confidential five-page letter to Campbell complaining that the American briefing team "weren't up to the job".

But there was also a recognition of the BBC's work - but not of its UK staff.

Paul Danahar - the BBC bureau chief in Baghdad receives the MBE.

"It's in recognition of the work he did in Iraq," said a Number 10 spokesman.