The London-based  Independent newspaper has reported that Irish musician  Bob Geldof and several aid agencies are preparing a complaint to Ofcom, which regulates the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The complaint concerns a BBC World Service  documentary by Africa editor Martin Plaut. It  quotes  two former senior  rebels with the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front saying they diverted famine-relief funds to buy weapons in the mid 1980s.

The TPLF's leader, Meles Zenawi,  later became  Ethiopia's prime minister. According to the BBC, the two former rebels are on the outs with him. One was tossed out of the movement in 1985.

In 1984, Geldof, a former Georgia Straight music editor,  and Midge Ure founded Live Aid, which raised approximately US$280 million to address widespread starvation in Ethiopia.

Geldof told the Independent that the Internet has transmitted the BBC story around the world, creating a false impression. He also called the BBC report a "disgrace".

"At the time of Live Aid we had journalists crawling all over everything we did trying to find something wrong--and they couldn't," Geldof told the Independent. "And now, on the strength of one disgruntled soldier, the BBC has undermined the faith of ordinary people across the world in the effectiveness of giving to people in their hour of need."

(To listen to Geldof's rebuttal, go here.)

The BBC World Services editor of news and current affairs, Andrew Whitehead, posted a statement on the broadcaster's Web site  offering its side of the story, and  saying that  Geldof declined to be interviewed for the documentary.

Zenawi, Geldof, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and current British prime minister Gordon Brown were among the 17 members of the Commission for Africa.

In 2005, it  issued 90 recommendations in areas ranging from aid to debt relief to trade to alleviate human suffering across the continent.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.