British MP to sue over Iraqi payoff report (Galloway)

Reuters | 4/22/03

[kattracks]

British MP to sue over Iraqi payoff report

LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - A leading British anti-war politician rubbished a report on Tuesday that claimed he had received 375,000 pounds ($587,200) a year in payoffs from the Iraqi government and said he would sue for libel.

The Daily Telegraph said a secret memorandum found in Iraq's looted Foreign Ministry showed that George Galloway received at least that amount per year from Iraq under its U.N.-backed Oil-For-Food Programme and that he had asked for more money.

"The only thing extremely clear about this story is that it is clearly false and it will be demonstrated in the courts of law as false," Galloway told BBC Radio.

"No such thing ever happened," he said, adding that the Telegraph was "in big trouble." Galloway, a member of Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party, could not be immediately reached for further comment.

According to the Telegraph, the memorandum -- sent to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by his spy chief -- said that Galloway had asked for a bigger cut of Iraq's oil exports under the U.N. programme at a meeting with an Iraqi spy in December 1999.

Galloway, 48, said he had never, to his knowledge, met an Iraqi intelligence agent, and that the reported Boxing Day encounter never took place.

Galloway, a colourful member of parliament (MP) and one of the most outspoken critics of the war against Iraq, has been lambasted by parts of the British press for his tireless opposition to military action.

The Scottish legislator has been dubbed "MP for Baghdad Central" and has been slammed by fellow parliamentarians for calling Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush "wolves" for attacking Iraq.

Galloway has long been a campaigner against U.N. sanctions on Iraq. He met Saddam in Baghdad last year.

He spoke at London's massive anti-war rally ahead of the attack on Iraq, at a time when Blair was under heavy fire from his party and the public for his hardline stand on Iraq. Public opinion has turned in Blair's favour since the war.

Galloway did say he had penned a letter that was found in the files along with the alleged secret memorandum. That letter stated that Jordanian businessman Fawaz Zureikat was the representative of Galloway's Mariam Appeal organisation in Iraq.

The Mariam Appeal, which campaigns against sanctions on Iraq, was named after a young Iraqi girl Galloway flew to Scotland in 1998 for treatment for leukaemia.

Galloway said the memorandum may have been forged, or planted as part of what he called a "carpet bombing" campaign by the British press against him.

04/22/03 06:10 ET

[backhoe]

Here's what we have so far:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/897817/posts

How I found the papers in a looted foreign ministry office (including Galloway's purported payoff)
Telegraph ^ | April 22, 2003 | David Blair

 

 

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

 

 

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/897625/posts

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

e.Peak (21/1/2002) news: politics: British MP speaks out on ...
... to illegally provide medicine for children in Iraq. Galloway resides
in the UK with his Palestinian wife...

Here's a brief backgrounder on Galloway: Bush and Blair: Wolves

[TigerLikesRooster]

Let the trial begin. It could be entertaining.:)

[wretchard]

The Telegraph must know that the documents, in and of themselves, do not constitute proof of Galloway's guilt. Because a conviction for libel is far easier to obtain in England that the US; because the Left will almost certainly rally unanimously behind Galloway, the Telegraph is almost certainly keeping a trump up their sleeve. The strategy is probably to force Galloway to sue; to get him on record categorically denying that he received payment before dropping the bomb. I would guess the Telegraph has Galloway's Swiss account number or other banking detail and will pin him to the wall with this.

[fooman]

Can you say DISCOVERY boys and girls? he he

[DB]

There's other people involved that are witnesses.

Such as the broker who did the selling and made the money distributions...

There should be a mountain of evidence when following the money trail.

[not-an-ostrich]

Now we need to find documentation of Scott Ritter's treason.

[11th Earl of Mar]

Galloway is suing his accusers? Doesn't he remember what happened to Alger Hiss?

[Cincinatus]

Nobody on the left remembers about Alger Hiss -- except that he was framed by evil McCarthyite conservatives.

[Publius6961]

Galloway, 48, said he had never, to his knowledge, met an Iraqi intelligence agent, and that the reported Boxing Day encounter never took place.
...
He met Saddam in Baghdad last year.

Hmmmmm.
This is a convincing protestation of innocence?

Did what the Telegraph report actually happen?
Perhaps he should be suing the old Iraqi intelligence and foreign payments services.

That they would report payments not made would not surprise me. Sleep with dogs...

[martin gibson]

Galloway, a colourful member of parliament (MP) and one of the most outspoken critics of the war...

Whoooo-Hooooo ... nothing like 'colourful' (sic) and 'outspoken' legislators to keep things interesting...

[MizSterious]

Galloway item--FYI

[knuthom]

Remeber when it was asked in Parliament from whom they could accept an Iraqi surrender......and someone yelled out "Galloway". May not have been far off the mark.

[Shermy]

He didn't get the money...directly. It went to his "charities" from which money he got...he must of! Check accounts in his wife's or others control in Jordan and West Bank.

[js1138]

It's pretty easy to win liable suits in England. They better have the goods.

[The Hon. Galahad Threepwood]

Doesn't he remember what happened to Alger Hiss?

Or Oscar Wilde?

The Guardian's take on the threatened lawsuit.

[quark]

I hear also that it's easy to win libel suits there...

[js1138]

The question is not whether the document is forged but whether it is accurate and truthful. And whether Mr. Galloway has been spending beyond his visible imcome.

[Oztrich Boy]

OT Point of interest "Colouful businessman and well-known racing identity" is the Australian newsmedia's libel-proof description for "crime-boss".

[Tommyjo]

Galloway matter settled

By a staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

The Christian Science Monitor and British Member of Parliament George Galloway have reached a settlement, including a payment to him, over an article based on documents the Monitor obtained last April in Baghdad.
The documents purported to show payments from the Saddam Hussein regime to Mr. Galloway over a period of 12 years, but the Monitor eventually performed ink-dating tests that discredited the documents, suggesting they were almost certainly forged. The Monitor ran a front-page story last June outlining the ink tests and other expert examinations that included an apology to Galloway and to Monitor readers. Later that summer, Galloway threatened to sue the Monitor in Britain, which does not have the same free-press or free-speech protections as American law. The settlement also includes a statement that was read in open court, endorsed by the Monitor, which reiterates that the aspersions the original documents cast on Galloway are unfounded.

Galloway has filed a libel suit against the London-based Daily Telegraph over articles based on an entirely different set of documents, also found in Baghdad last April, that also alleged payments to him by the Hussein government. In recent weeks, an Iraqi newspaper reported on other documents discovered by officials in the Iraqi oil ministry. These documents are said to list profitable concessions under the UN oil-for-food program doled out by the Hussein government to foreigners, including Galloway associates, who provided funding for a charity he ran. Galloway himself has reportedly denied receiving any oil concessions and has said he is unaware that his charity received any proceeds from such deals. None of these documents repeats or offers any evidence of the transactions described in the documents that led to the Monitor article.

The documents obtained by the Monitor were provided by a former Iraqi army general. He has not acknowledged that the documents were forged.