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George Galloway faces renewed investigation by US authorities over the channelling of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of payments from Saddam Hussein's regime to his Iraq charity.
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George Galloway denies he solicited oil allocations
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Three different bodies of prosecutors and the US justice department are preparing to examine the report by Sir Philip Mawer, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and the House of Commons committee responsible for MPs' standards, published last week. Sir Philip found that, by turning a "blind eye" to some financial arrangements of his anti-sanctions charity, the Mariam Appeal, Mr Galloway "recklessly or negligently, and probably knowingly" allowed it to receive funds channelled indirectly from Saddam's manipulation of the UN oil for food programme. In 2005, a report by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was passed to US lawyers considering possible law enforcement cases arising from the oil for food programme. The Senate committee had cross-examined Mr Galloway in May 2005 about allegations that he had solicited and was granted oil allocations from Saddam's government. Mr Galloway has continued to deny that he ever held any such discussions. The Sunday Telegraph has learned that among papers sent to prosecutors are written responses by Mr Galloway to follow-up questions from Senate investigators after his appearance before the committee. The responses are in line with those given by the Respect MP to the Parliamentary Commissioner. Sir Philip's report concluded: "Mr Galloway has consistently denied, prevaricated and fudged in relation to the now undeniable evidence that the Mariam Appeal, and he indirectly through it, received money derived, via the oil for food programme, from the Iraqi regime." He added that Mr Galloway had not benefited personally. American investigations into Mr Galloway's connection with the oil for food scandal, which were put into abeyance while British authorities made their own inquiries, are now expected to consider whether - in the light of Sir Philip's conclusions - the MP's responses to the Senate committee fall foul of American law. A spokesman for Republican senator Norm Coleman, the committee chairman in 2005, said the senator had drawn the attention of US law enforcement agencies to the Parliamentary report. That concluded by recommending that the Bethnal Green and Bow MP be suspended from the House of Commons for 18 days because his behaviour had damaged the reputation of the House. The spokesman said: "Senator Coleman takes misleading testimony very seriously and encourages these law enforcement agencies to review all of the evidence at hand, including the new evidence revealed in this report." A spokesman for the US justice department said: "We cannot comment on investigations, as to their status, and we do not comment on individuals that have not been charged." But a source close to the Senate committee and familiar with the investigations said American prosecutors were waiting to see whether British authorities pursued any case against Mr Galloway before deciding their own course of action. |
