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Galloway denies he was on Saddam's payroll after 'discovery' of secret memo
The Independent (U.K.) ^ | 04/22/03 | Chris Bunting

Posted on 04/21/2003 6:49:40 PM PDT by Pokey78

Mystery surrounded accusations last night that the Labour MP George Galloway was on the payroll of Saddam Hussein, taking hundreds of thousands of pounds from oil-for-food income intended to feed starving Iraqi children.

A document purporting to be a confidential memorandum to Saddam by his head of intelligence and obtained by The Daily Telegraph from the floor of a looted ministry is reported to show that the MP for Glasgow Kelvin took up to £375,000 a year from the Iraqi regime's oil-for-food programme.

But in a statement issued last night by the MP – who faces deselection and expulsion from the Labour Party over his outspoken opposition to the war – he said: "I have never solicited nor received money from Iraq for our campaign against war and sanctions. I have never seen a barrel of oil, never owned one, never bought one, never sold one."

The memorandum, which the Telegraph said was found by one of its reporters in the looted Foreign Ministry in Baghdad, allegedly shows that Mr Galloway had a secret relationship with Iraqi intelligence as he waged a fierce campaign against the war on Iraq and the previous UN sanctions regime.

The document, allegedly sent to Saddam Hussein's office on 3 January 2000, outlines talks between Mr Galloway and an Iraqi spy. In a meeting with the spy on Boxing Day 1999, Mr Galloway allegedly outlined the plans of his Mariam Appeal against sanctions, named after an Iraqi child he flew to Britain for leukaemia treatment.

The spy chief wrote that Mr Galloway had told him that he "needs continuous financial support from Iraq. He obtained through Mr Tariq Aziz [Deputy Prime Minister] three million barrels of oil every six months, according to the oil-for-food programme. His share would be only between 10 and 15 cents per barrel ... He [Galloway] also obtained a limited number of food contracts with the Ministry of Trade. The percentage of its profits does not go above one per cent."

The security chief, whose signature on the memo is illegible, said Mr Galloway was pressing for more money and recommended that his demands be met. "He suggested to us the following: first, increase his share of oil; second, grant him exceptional commercial and contractual facilities," the memo says.

A letter from Mr Galloway himself, allegedly also found in the Foreign Ministry, is reported to show that Mr Galloway's intermediary in Iraq was Fawaz Zureikat, a Jordanian businessman. The letter, on House of Commons notepaper, says: "This is to certify that Mr Fawaz A Zureikat is my representative in Baghdad on all matters concerning my work with the Mariam Appeal or the Emergency Committee in Iraq."

The intelligence chief's memo quotes Mr Zureikat as saying: "His [Galloway's] projects and future plans for the benefit of the country need financial support to become a motive for him to do more work and, because of the sensitivity of getting money directly from Iraq, it is necessary to grant him oil contracts and special and exceptional commercial opportunities to provide him with an income."

Mr Galloway's statement last night said he had never met Iraqi intelligence officials "to the best of my knowledge".

"Given that I have had access over the years to Iraq's political leadership, most often the Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, I would have absolutely no reason to be meeting with an official of Iraqi intelligence.

"From the way they have been described to me, I can state that [the documents] bear all the hallmarks of having been either forged or doctored and are designed to discredit those who stood against the war."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: galloway; georgegalloway; mariamscam; oilforfood
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To: delightfully dingy
I have. We buy it in 55 Gal barrels.

Ha! An obvious fabrication Sir! A barrel of oil is 42 gallons.

Again, Ha!

< /smirk & wink>

41 posted on 04/21/2003 9:51:47 PM PDT by lafroste
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To: TUX
Gimme some of that $$$$$$$
42 posted on 04/21/2003 9:54:38 PM PDT by timestax
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To: Mike Darancette
Just wait until the truth comes out about France, Germany and the UN in their dealing with Iraq on Food for Oil.

Oil for Palaces.

(From WABC radio's Batchelor & Alexander.)
43 posted on 04/21/2003 10:10:18 PM PDT by Mike Fieschko
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To: BOBTHENAILER
If Turkey hadn't of screwed up and delayed our 4thID, this war would have been over even faster.

One can only imagine the data we would have found if the war had died down a week or 10 days earlier.
44 posted on 04/21/2003 10:13:57 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (Being a Monthly Donor to Free Republic is the Right Thing to do!)
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To: dennisw; BOBTHENAILER; Ernest_at_the_Beach
Thanks Dennis! So this scumbag is married to a PA?!
45 posted on 04/21/2003 10:15:10 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (Being a Monthly Donor to Free Republic is the Right Thing to do!)
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To: dennisw; Shermy; BOBTHENAILER; Ernest_at_the_Beach
What a great guy this clymer has been:

Who is George Galloway? George Galloway is a British MP who speaks out harshly against U.K. foreign policy on Iraq. He has carried out several unique actions to bring worldwide public attention to the toll sanctions are taking on the people of Iraq. About two years ago Galloway, with a few colleagues, drove a red double-decker bus from Big Ben to Baghdad, stopping for speaking engagements in 11 countries en route. About a year later, he challenged the flight embargo on Iraq by commissioning a plane to fly from England to Baghdad - the only peaceful plane to fly to Iraq from England since sanctions were imposed. This made daily newspapers in many countries around the world. George is also founder of the "Mariam Appeal", an organisation that seeks to illegally provide medicine for children in Iraq. Galloway resides in the U.K. with his Palestinian wife and their two children.

46 posted on 04/21/2003 10:17:34 PM PDT by Grampa Dave (Being a Monthly Donor to Free Republic is the Right Thing to do!)
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To: tictoc
I understand your caution. The Telegraph has also posted stories about Russians spying on Blair, and German passing of information to Hussein. I believe all these stories are from the same reporter.

On the other hand, it is possible that the reporter has an Iraqi contact who knew where certain files were kept. Stranger things have happened.

Galloway's finances should be easy for the UK to trace, and either prove or disprove this story.

A reporter forging something like this would take a terrific risk, since there are ways to ascertain the truth. I don't know the libel laws in the UK, but it seems to me unlikely that a newspaper would print something this bad without having the basic facts checked.

47 posted on 04/21/2003 10:26:36 PM PDT by Miss Marple
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To: lafroste
I didn't say oil from wells. I buy drip oil and motor oil in 55 Gal barrels.
48 posted on 04/21/2003 10:47:12 PM PDT by delightfully dingy
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To: Pokey78; All
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/897689/posts
THE TIMES: Galloway denies receiving £370,000 Iraq oil payments
The Times (UK) ^ | 4/22/03 | Melissa Kite
...here's links to the original Telegraph story and editorial posted by MadIvan, the documents on the Telegraph site, and the Sun and Independent takes posted by Pokey78.
Here is the account of how the reporter came upon these documents:
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/22/ngall122.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/04/22/ixnewstop.html
I'm afraid that the establishment media will simply stonewall this to death, despite the direct revelation having been made by one of its most loyal members, the Daily Telegraph. The antiwar group ANSWER has been directly financed by the Iraqi regime since its formation, in the form of "legal fees" paid by Baghdad to ANSWER's leading spokesman and organizer, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

 
 
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/897567/posts
Galloway was in Saddam's pay, say secret Iraqi documents (PACIFISTS ON SADDAM PAYROLL)
The Daily Telegraph ^ | April 22, 2003 | David Blair
George Galloway, the Labour backbencher, received money from Saddam Hussein's regime, taking a slice of oil earnings worth at least £375,000 a year, according to Iraqi intelligence documents found by The Daily Telegraph in Baghdad.
The documents, complete with scans of the letters.
How David Blair found the documents
While children are in the dungeon, this piece of dirt cries, "NO WAR".
 
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/897639/posts
Paid to be a traitor (Galloway)
The Sun (U.K.) ^ | 04/22/03 | Trevor Kavanaugh
The so-called Honourable Member for Glasgow Kelvin emerged last night as the paid mouthpiece for one of the most despicable regimes of torture and mass murder in modern times.
 
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/881636/posts
TRAITOR (Meet George Galloway, MP for Bagdad Central)
The Sun ^ | Apri 1, 2003 | The Sun

49 posted on 04/22/2003 2:05:02 AM PDT by backhoe (The 1990's will be forever remembered as "The Decade of Fraud(s)..."( Oslo, dot-bombs, clintons...))
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To: JoeSchem
To believe in the vast right wing conspiracy, all you have to do is believe that people of the character of Bill Clinton and Saddam Hussein are telling the truth.

Perfect description of the kool aid drinkers.

50 posted on 04/22/2003 5:02:33 AM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (Just like Black September. One by one, we're gonna get 'em.)
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To: Grampa Dave; dennisw
Galloway resides in the U.K. with his Palestinian wife and their two children.

part of his sentence for treason should be an immediate and mandatory speaking tour on his red bus, to the countries comprising the "Axis of Weasels". His theme:

LIFT THE SANCTIONS NOW!!!!!

After that, he and his wife can spend the next ten to twenty years scrubbing BLOOD from the walls of soddom's torture chambers.

51 posted on 04/22/2003 5:10:09 AM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (Just like Black September. One by one, we're gonna get 'em.)
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To: Pokey78
WOW!!! I sure would like to be in the House of Commons when this is brought up.
52 posted on 04/22/2003 5:12:45 AM PDT by mware
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To: hoot2
klintoon wasn't disbarred in "limeytown"....he could represent his "commrade"... it just depends on what your "definition of scum of the earth.....IS"

The ultimate in Poetic Justice.

53 posted on 04/22/2003 5:12:49 AM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (Just like Black September. One by one, we're gonna get 'em.)
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To: Thinkin' Gal

A Jordanian businessman? I'm shocked! Shocked!

54 posted on 04/22/2003 5:12:54 AM PDT by Jeremiah Jr (Everybody goes to Rick's)
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To: Jeremiah Jr
Hey I read somewhere yesterday that there is discussion on making Tony Blair an honorary citizen of the United States.

It is a fitting tribute to a true friend of America.

55 posted on 04/22/2003 5:15:31 AM PDT by mware
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To: MNLDS
Man, there are people in Paris, Moscow and Bonn right now, urinating in their skivvies, worried about what other pieces of paper may come to light in Baghdad soon. Should be fun!

Gonna be better than the best spy novel ever written.

56 posted on 04/22/2003 5:21:02 AM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (Just like Black September. One by one, we're gonna get 'em.)
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To: BOBTHENAILER
In my business it's called an overriding royalty interest...

In organized crime they call it "a piece of the action..."

57 posted on 04/22/2003 5:23:28 AM PDT by JimRed (Disinformation is the leftist's and enemy's friend; consider the source before believing.)
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To: IncPen
jeeez...
58 posted on 04/22/2003 1:47:58 PM PDT by BartMan1
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To: Miss Marple
Libel laws are nightmarish in the UK. It'd be a fool to risk it.
59 posted on 04/22/2003 5:01:31 PM PDT by stands2reason
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To: stands2reason
It'd be a fool to risk it.

It's "He'd be a fool", dumbass.

60 posted on 04/22/2003 5:06:37 PM PDT by stands2reason
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