Posted on 04/22/2003 7:05:52 PM PDT by Happygal
GEORGE Galloway said last night that he is ready to take on the Labour Party and fight the next election as an independent, as he launched a libel action against claims that he was in the paid service of Saddam Hussein.
The maverick Labour MP has said he will make the new Glasgow Central constituency into a stronghold of "real Labour values" if he is thrown out of the party for his attacks on Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, during the Iraq war.
As he started legal action against the Daily Telegraph, it last night printed what was billed as a fresh document found in Saddam’s foreign ministry - suggesting the regime rejected a request by Mr Galloway for more money.
Mr Galloway spent yesterday defending what he denounced as "preposterous" allegations that he met an Iraqi intelligence officer to negotiate an annual payment of $600,000 (just over £375,000) by trading six million barrels of oil under a United Nations scheme.
Speaking from his luxury holiday villa in Portugal, Mr Galloway claimed to have been framed by "black propaganda" and said he intends to clear his name in court.
His main defence was that if the accusations were true, the UN would have him listed as one of the select few entitled to profit from the oil-for-food programme.
"The Telegraph is going to have to show the court where the United Nations sent me my cheque, when they did so, why they did so," said Mr Galloway.
However, the UN yesterday contradicted this, saying it did not micro-manage the contracts and did not authorise personal payments. "Once the buyer had registration, he or she would enter into a contract," said a UN spokesman in New York. "There are no cheques floating around here."
It emerged last night that Fawaz Zureikat, a Jordanian businessman whom Mr Galloway has named as an official representative, is listed by the UN as a beneficiary of the oil-for-food scheme.
Mr Zureikat, who was placed under house arrest in Jordan at the start of the Iraq war, is co-founder of the Mariam Appeal - which is fast becoming the focus of attention.
The appeal was launched in 1998 by a letter sent by Mr Galloway on Commons notepaper suggesting it was for the benefit of Mariam Hamza, a four-year-old Iraqi with leukaemia.
However, House of Commons records say Mr Galloway used some of the cash raised to pay for 14 of his 15 overseas trips between September 1999 and January 2002.
It emerged last night that the attorney general in England is considering an investigation into whether this constitutes an abuse.
The fresh claims in today’s Daily Telegraph say a document sent by Abdid Hamid al-Khattab, Saddam’s most senior aide, ruled out giving Mr Galloway a more generous deal in the oil being traded for his benefit. "The belief is that the person who is promoting the right path [Mr Galloway] needs exceptional support which we cannot afford and I do not think we can promise to," the memo says.
Speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight last night, Mr Galloway said he is prepared to open up the accounts of the Mariam Appeal to show it has not been used to deposit secret cash.
"It’s not a charity; it’s a political campaign and always has been," he said.
"And secondly, it isn’t mine. I founded it but long ago gave up day-to-day control of it. Indeed, the chairman of it - and he has been for some considerable time - is Mr Fawaz Zureikat."
He also confirmed that he would stand as an independent if he was ejected from the Labour Party and be unable to stand for selection at Glasgow Central - being created by parts of Kelvin, Shettleston and Govan.
"I think I can confidently predict that they will select me. If we are cheated of that right then, of course, I will defend that seat as an independent," he said."
In an earlier interview published on the website of Operation Black Vote, a campaign group aimed at "democratic deficit" for ethnic minorities, he went further.
"After 35 years, and having served at every level, I suspect I love the Labour Party rather more than Mr Blair does. I hope he will eschew a witch-hunt," Mr Galloway said.
"But, just in case, my friends and I are busy building the new Glasgow Central constituency into an impregnable fortress of real Labour values.
"Mr Blair and his peculiar allies, his army of right-wing hacks and control-freaks, may well besiege it. But they will have their work cut out to overcome it."
David Moxham, an assistant to Mr Galloway, confirmed this last night. "If George is removed by foul means, that would be a problem," he said. "We’re not having a Blairite candidate imposed upon us."
I'm sure he appreciates it! And if not, remind him. :-)
Well he hasn't shown me how to do the coloured bits yet. Or taught me the extended political-science commentary. But hey! I'm doin' me best! ;-)
Socialism = fascism. Their words betray them.
This is right up there with one of the other "defenses" spouted this week, namely by Scott Peterson's attorney -- namely that Scott didn't know Laci was pregnant!
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