Posted on 10/23/2003 10:01:12 AM PDT by TexKat
LONDON (Reuters) - A flamboyant British politician who denounced President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair as "wolves" during the Iraq war was expelled from Blair's ruling Labor Party Thursday.
George Galloway, member of parliament for Glasgow in Scotland, confirmed his expulsion as he emerged from a party hearing in London and angrily condemned the tribunal as a "kangaroo court."
Most of the charges stemmed from an interview the left-wing firebrand gave to Abu Dhabi Television in March 2003.
The life-long maverick had been accused by the Labor Party of inciting Arabs to fight coalition troops during the Iraq war and encouraging British troops to disobey what he called "illegal orders."
He was one of Britain's most outspoken and controversial critics of the war in Iraq.
His supporters praised him for speaking his mind while his critics accused him of being an apologist for former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), whom he visited in 2002, and mockingly labeled him "MP for Baghdad Central."
Galloway started libel proceedings in June against Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper after it reported he had been in the pay of the Iraqi government. American newspaper The Christian Science Monitor retracted a similar story alleging Galloway received $10 million to boost Iraq's reputation in the West.
Blair's decision to go to war provoked widespread resistance in Britain and his popularity has since slumped.
An unrepentant Galloway said: "Mr Blair's response to the disaster of the war is to attack those who stood against the war and to root them out of British politics."
"It was a travesty of justice ... a politically motivated kangaroo court whose verdict clearly had been written in advance in the best tradition of show trials," said Galloway.
He complained: "I was found guilty by unanimous verdict and I've just been informed that after 36 years of membership I have been expelled forthwith."
Galloway said, "I intend to defend my seat in parliament." If he decides to stand as an independent candidate, it would be an embarrassment for Blair as it would be seen as a mini-referendum on the Iraq war.
And he was defiant to the end, telling reporters: "I want to apologize to the wolf. Mr Bush and Mr Blair are a jackal and a jackass. I will ensure Mr Blair regrets this day."
Expulsions from political parties are relatively rare events in Britain.
The last time an MP was formally expelled from the Labor Party was in 1998 when London Mayor Ken Livingstone was automatically thrown out of the party for standing against an official Labor candidate at the mayoral elections in 2002. (Additional reporting by Alexandra Hudson and Gideon Long)
George Galloway, member of parliament for Glasgow Kelvin in Scotland, speaks to the media after being expelled from Britain's Labour Party at a hearing in central London, October 23, 2003. Galloway, who denounced President George W. Bush and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair as 'wolves' during the Iraq (news - web sites) war, condemned his party hearing as a 'kangaroo court.' (Michael Crabtree/Reuters)
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