 |
Reuters George Galloway, a British member of Parliment known for his defiant oratory and leftist politics, called newspaper reports that he received money from the Iraqi government, "a pile of black propaganda." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For a Flamboyant Laborite, Iraq Looks to Be His EpitaphBy WARREN HOGE
 ONDON, April 24 — For anyone worried that the House of Commons has become too well-behaved to produce defiant oratory and eccentric behavior, George Galloway is a throwback to a provocative and histrionic past.
His leftist politics, permanent suntan, dapper dress and taste for the globe-trotting high life have earned him nicknames like "Gorgeous George" and the "Bollinger Bolshevik." The Spectator magazine, no fan of leftists, admired his skill at orotund phrase-turning so much it awarded him its Debater of the Year award in 2001. More recently, however, his act has lost its following. His fellow legislators now refer to him as "the member for Baghdad Central" and ridicule him for his expressions of admiration for Saddam Hussein and his frequent glad-handing trips to the Iraqi capital. When Prime Minister Tony Blair was pondering a question in Parliament this month about who in Iraq would be qualified to deliver the unconditional surrender that Britain was seeking, an anonymous legislator brought the House down by shouting, "George Galloway!" This week Mr. Galloway has proven a godsend to London editors wondering what Iraq-related stories to put on their front pages now that the war itself has ended. "Galloway Was in Saddam's Pay, Say Secret Iraqi Documents," in Tuesday's Daily Telegraph, was the headline that signaled their rescue. A Telegraph correspondent, David Blair, reported that he had found documents in the burned-out Foreign Ministry in Baghdad signed by top aides of Mr. Hussein alleging that Mr. Galloway was receiving $600,000 a year from Iraq's intelligence agencies in oil-for-food program earnings while ostensibly campaigning for an anti-poverty charity that he set up. The newspaper also said the file showed that Mr. Galloway was pushing the Iraqis for new commercial contracts to make more money. Mr. Galloway, interviewed by newspapers and television networks at his holiday beach home on Portugal's coast, denied the charges, calling the newspaper report "a pile of black propaganda" and "intelligence hocus pocus" based on forgeries. He said he had never met with anyone he knew to be an Iraqi intelligence official, and he said he would sue the newspaper in what he called "the libel case of the century." He added, "The Telegraph is in big trouble." The newspaper responded Wednesday by publishing a new story based on what it identified as a memo from a senior Hussein aide saying that Mr. Galloway's demands were exorbitant and that he was no longer affordable. Today The Telegraph expanded on that report, saying the documents showed the regime providing Mr. Galloway "commercial cover" for his relationship with Iraqi intelligence to protect his reputation in Parliament. It also published comments from a high-ranking Iraqi defector authenticating the documents and an interview with an Anglican cleric responsible for aid to Iraq who said it was "balderdash" to claim that Western visitors to Baghdad were not in the constant company of intelligence agents. Though the antiwar contingent in Parliament is large and vocal, none of the rebellious lawmakers have come to Mr. Galloway's defense. He has been discredited by frequently replayed television footage showing him in 1994 warmly greeting Mr. Hussein and praising him with the words, "Sir, I salute your strength, your courage and your indefatigability." In the early days of the war, he told Abu Dhabi TV that Mr. Blair and President Bush were attacking Iraq "like wolves," and he urged British soldiers not to fight. Mr. Galloway, 48, was born in Dundee, Scotland, and made a name for himself in Labor politics by campaigning for causes in the developing world. He was elected to Parliament from Glasgow in 1987 but soon after had to reimburse the charity he had directed for excessive travel and hotel expenses. His wife Elaine left him the same year after he confessed to having sex with two other women on a charity trip to the Greek islands. In 2000 he married his current wife, Amineh Abu-Zayyad, a Palestinian biologist working in Glasgow. Mr. Blair said last week that he thought Mr. Galloway's comments during the war had been a disgrace, and the Labor Party is looking to expel him. It will likely have to wait until his threatened court action is finished, but party leaders may have been spared taking direct action by Scotland's redistricting for the next election. It has eliminated his Glasgow seat. In what could be his true political epitaph, however, The Evening Standard in London said today, "For a man who claims to have dedicated his life to helping the disadvantaged, George Galloway has spent a good deal of it helping himself."
|
