Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Newly found Iraqi files raise heat on British MP**More than $10 million!
The Christian Science Monitor ^ | April 25, 2003 | Philip Smucker

Posted on 04/24/2003 3:31:45 PM PDT by aculeus

BAGHDAD - A fresh set of documents uncovered in a Baghdad house used by Saddam Hussein's son Qusay to hide top-secret files detail multimillion dollar payments to an outspoken British member of parliament, George Galloway.

Evidence of Mr. Galloway's dealings with the regime were first revealed earlier this week by David Blair, a reporter for the Daily Telegraph in London, who discovered documents in Iraq's Foreign Ministry.

The Labour Party MP, who lambasted his party's prime minister, Tony Blair, in parliamentary debates on the war earlier this year, has denied the allegations. He is now the focus of a preliminary investigation by British law-enforcement officials and is under intense scrutiny in the British press, where the story has been splashed across the front pages.

The most recent - and possibly most revealing - documents were obtained earlier this week by the Monitor. The papers include direct orders from the Hussein regime to issue Mr. Galloway six individual payments, starting in July 1992 and ending in January 2003.

The payments point to a concerted effort by the regime to use its oil wealth to win friends in the Western world who could promote Iraqi interests first by lifting sanctions against Iraq and later in blocking war plans.

The leadership of Hussein's special security section and accountants of the President's secretive Republican Guard signed the papers and authorized payments totaling more than $10 million.

The three most recent payment authorizations, beginning on April 4, 2000, and ending on January 14, 2003 are for $3 million each. All three authorizations include statements that show the Iraqi leadership's strong political motivation in paying Galloway for his vociferous opposition to US and British plans to invade Iraq.

The Jan. 14, 2003, document, written on Republican Guard stationary with its Iraqi eagle and "Trust in Allah," calls for the "Manager of the security department, in the name of President Saddam Hussein, to order a gratuity to be issued to Mr. George Galloway of British nationality in the amount of three million dollars only."

The document states that the money is in return for "his courageous and daring stands against the enemies of Iraq, like Blair, the British Prime Minister, and for his opposition in the House of Commons and Lords against all outrageous lies against our patient people...."

The document is signed left to right by four people, including Gen. Saif Adeen Flaya al-Hassan, Col. Shawki Abed Ahmed, and what the Iraqi general who first discovered the documents says is the signature of Qusay. The same exact signatures are also found on a vast array of documents from the offices of the president's youngest son. The final authorization appears to be that of Qusay, who notes the accounting department should "issue the check and deliver to Mr. George Galloway," adding, "Do this fast and inform me."

An Iraqi general attached to Hussein's Republican Guard discovered the documents in a house in the Baghdad suburbs used by Qusay, who is chief of Iraq's elite Guard units.

The general, whose initials are "S.A.R.," asked not to be named for fear of retribution from Hussein's assassins. He said he raided the suburban home on April 8 with armed fighters in an effort to secure deeds to property that the regime had confiscated from him years ago. He said he found the new Galloway papers amid documents discussing Kuwaiti prisoners and Hussein's chemical warfare experts, and information about the president's most trusted Republican Guard commanders.

The documents appear to be authentic and signed by senior members within Saddam Hussein's most trusted security circle, but their authenticity could not be verified by the Monitor.

The British newspaper The Guardian raised possible questions about the first round of documents, including the possibility that while the documents could be real, they might include false allegations from which Iraqi agents could profit internally.

Galloway - a colorful Scot who is sharp of suit and even sharper of tongue - made regular visits to Iraq, and was dubbed by conservatives in Britain as an "apologist for Saddam Hussein." He once told the dictator, "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability."

In Parliament, Galloway, an MP since 1987 and a controversial figure, has championed the plight of Iraq, and blasted Blair for going to war in league with President Bush in his "crusade" against the Muslim world. He labeled Blair and Bush "wolves" for attacking Iraq, sparking a firm rebuttal from Blair, who called the remarks "disgraceful."

Galloway has vehemently denied he accepted any cash payments from the regime, initially, suggesting the documents may have been forged. The outspoken Labour Party member called earlier Daily Telegraph stories about his dealings a "smear campaign" against war opponents, and his lawyers have initiated legal proceedings against the newspaper.

Repeated efforts to contact Galloway, who is currently traveling in Portugal, were unsuccessful. No one answered at his House of Commons office, and his mobile phone was switched off.

David Blair, the British reporter who first broke the story, told the BBC: "I think it would require an enormous amount of imagination to believe that someone went to the trouble of composing a forged document in Arabic and then planting it in a file of patently authentic documents and burying it in a darkened room on the off-chance that a British journalist might happen upon it and might bother to translate it. That strikes me as so wildly improbable as to be virtually inconceivable."

According to the documents Blair found in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Galloway received money from Hussein's regime, taking a slice of oil earnings worth at least $600,000 a year. A top-secret memo sent by Hussein's spy chief requested that Galloway get an even-greater cut of Iraq's exports under the UN-sponsored oil for food program.

The document said that Galloway was profiting from food contracts, and sought "exceptional" business deals.

The most recent documents obtained by the Monitor suggest that payoffs may well have been made by checks in lump sums. The Iraqi general, who is familiar with financial dealings of Hussein's inner circle, said that checks of several million dollars could have easily been cashed in a bank on the ground floor of one of the President's most important palaces in Baghdad.

In a more recent Telegraph report based on a memorandum from May 2, 2000, Hussein is said to have rejected a request from Galloway for more money, saying his "exceptional" demands were not affordable.

The letter, found in the foreign ministry files, refers to the date and reference number of the intelligence chief's memo, which asked for Hussein's decision on Galloway's alleged requests.

That memo would have come nearly a month after one of the six letters - obtained by the Monitor - from Qusay's cabinet detailing a payment on April 4, 2000. That payment also references Galloway's "courageous and daring stands towards the oppressive blockade and in support of our courageous and patient people who violently oppose all enemies of Iraq and its leaders..."

Another payment authorization on July 27, 1999, states the money is being given upon "agreement of Sayid Qusay Saddam Hussein (the president's son) who has supervision over the Republican Guard." It calls the $1 million payment a reward for Galloway's support in trying to repeal the "unjust blockade on our beloved country and for his firm stand against the prime minister of Britain, the criminal Blair."

The two earliest payments, in July of 1992 and October of 1993, are noted down on green stationary as having already been delivered. For example, the October payment states, "kindly be informed of the issuing of a gratuity by the esteemed leader President Saddam Hussein (may Allah protect and guide him) to Mr. George Galloway in the amount of $600,000." It says the money was handed over to him by the representative of the directorate of the Special Security Organization, Colonel Shawki. Thursday, the US Marines had surrounded the house of Colonel Shawki. His neighbors said he might have already fled to Syria.

The general who gave access to the documents - General "S" - was until a decade ago a general in the regular Iraqi army but was attached to the Republican Guard. He was subsequently jailed on three occasions. He claims the government punished him because he is a Shiite, by assassinating his wife, three daughters, and one brother.

General "S" was determined to make up for his losses. What he really wanted back, however, was the deeds to the three homes taken from him. He planted his own driver as a spy in the guards of Qusay and followed the presidential paper trail when it moved to the suburbs in March.

On April 8, when US forces prepared to storm the capital, he rounded up six men who had served in prison with him and set out for the house.

He took possession of items including computer printouts that give the names, biographies, and residences of Hussein's most trusted Republican Guard officers. Also in the files is information on chemists who worked in the Iraqi biological-weapons program.

He also, unexpectedly, found documents discussing Kuwaiti prisoners still in Iraq and the ones that noted specific payments of money to Galloway. There was also a document detailing the biographies of Qusay's most trusted assassins.

One of The Monitor's interpreters was a fellow inmate of the general in Hussein's political prison. When the interpreter visited him several days ago, the general mentioned the documents he held.

The general had been most interested in discussing the Kuwaiti file. When the Monitor's reporter and the interpreter arrived to speak with him, he mentioned the Galloway material in passing.

• Mark Rice-Oxley contributed to this report from London.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: galloway; georgegalloway; iraq; saddam
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180 ... 201-203 next last
To: Grampa Dave
You know, I am remembering the discussion we had about who was behind the funding of the Ecological and Anti-war groups. Bells, lights, and whistles are now going off as we see that Galloway is probably the first of many.

That $10 million dollars could have been funneled to all sorts of small fry in the UK or here. I am really going to be watching these stories, with, may I say, breathless anticipation.

141 posted on 04/24/2003 5:25:31 PM PDT by Miss Marple
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 124 | View Replies]

To: Miss Marple
Good points all. I'm interested in the "security council" box, personally. Will Hans Blix's name turn up on the roster in that one?
142 posted on 04/24/2003 5:28:38 PM PDT by MizSterious (Support whirled peas!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Warhead W-88
I would bet that Bubba Klinton was on the payroll, too.
143 posted on 04/24/2003 5:29:52 PM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: aculeus
I echo Madivan: get the gallows ready for Galloway.
144 posted on 04/24/2003 5:37:09 PM PDT by driftless ( For life-long happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

bttt
145 posted on 04/24/2003 5:37:32 PM PDT by firewalk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Warhead W-88
Ritter has too much crow in his craw to be able to speak at the moment.
146 posted on 04/24/2003 5:38:56 PM PDT by driftless ( For life-long happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Grampa Dave
Your son should ask Levin that if information comes out showing that one or more of Levin's fellow rats has been bought out by Soddomite.

Funny you mention that, I encouraged him to take that one as well.

They are all getting together 30 minutes early to divide 'em up with their teacher.

On a side note, with $10 mill going to this POS Brit traitor, we KNOW that some of that loot found its way to the good ol' USA. I have this funny feeling that those files won't get translated and publicized until, say, July to Septmber of 2004.

You know how long and tedious those translations can be.

147 posted on 04/24/2003 5:50:19 PM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (Just like Black September. One by one, we're gonna get 'em.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
BTW, first check is from 1992. Isn't this just about when he took up his relationship with her? `Her' being the niece of Yasser Arafat? Could she be a sort of honey-trap employed by Saddam and ally Yasser? Veddy interesting.

Wow, what a thread, I'm sorry I got here late, this is fascinating reading.

148 posted on 04/24/2003 6:03:37 PM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (Just like Black September. One by one, we're gonna get 'em.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: kcvl
In 1999, he drove from London to Baghdad in a red double-decker bus, receiving a hero's welcome.

That must be where those stupid "human shield" hippies got the idea.

149 posted on 04/24/2003 6:16:16 PM PDT by jrushing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: cicada
The Jan. 14, 2003, document,written on Republican Guard stationary

They didn't claim the guard was moving, it was stationary.

150 posted on 04/24/2003 6:22:14 PM PDT by jrushing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]

To: MinuteGal
Meanwhile, in a smokey Lisbon cafe, George Galloway nervously chain-smokes Mayfairs while slowly sipping cheap Portugese wine.

I have a feeling the wine Galloway drinks is not cheap.

151 posted on 04/24/2003 6:24:52 PM PDT by aristeides
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 95 | View Replies]

To: Glenn
The Brits haven't had the stomach for execution for many years.
152 posted on 04/24/2003 6:30:10 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn’t be, in its eyes, a slave.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: aculeus
You just HAVE to LOVE this! LMFAO

I kept saying before the war, the paper-trail is going to sink a lot of people. He is the first in a LONG line of them!

Wonder where he will hide? I bet he doesn't dare go back to jolly ole England! LMFAO!
153 posted on 04/24/2003 6:30:28 PM PDT by Teetop (democrats....... socialist.........whats the difference?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
Now what is Ritter gonna say?

Galloway's a crook - how convenient [Ritter defends Galloway]

154 posted on 04/24/2003 6:32:19 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Where is Saddam? and where is Tom Daschle?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Scott will "disappear"....LOL
155 posted on 04/24/2003 6:34:12 PM PDT by Teetop (democrats....... socialist.........whats the difference?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 154 | View Replies]

To: Grampa Dave
Phunny photo!!!
156 posted on 04/24/2003 6:35:42 PM PDT by dennisw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: okie01
ya missed the best one, slick willy himself , or a couple mil. to the DNC! now that would lock up 2004....
157 posted on 04/24/2003 6:50:38 PM PDT by gdc61
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: gdc61
"ya missed the best one, slick willy himself..."

That was intentional. The First Felon's First Skill, so to speak, is money laundering.

Whenever he uttered, "There's no evidence that...", you could be assured he'd seen that there wasn't.

But, who knows, maybe there's a check stub laying around Baghdad memoed "Payoff for WJBC" -- just like that check they found in the trunk of that car in an Arkansas salvage yard.

158 posted on 04/24/2003 7:19:41 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 157 | View Replies]

To: Shermy
My guess...the check was made out to his girlfriend/wife, depostied in Palestinian or Jordanian banks. So he didn't "personally" receive the money.

See this from the above article:

checks of several million dollars could have easily been cashed in a bank on the ground floor of one of the President's most important palaces in Baghdad.

Interesting they would issue a check and then be available to cash it for him. I wonder if he had to endorse the check. Wanna bet he was given $100 U.S. bills?

Could it be the cash from the "important palace" may have been put in boxes and stashed in cottages and dog kennels and military barracks right before the war and had recently come from the "bank" of Saddam.

And this morning I did a brief search on Galloway's wife's name: Amineh Abu-Zayyad. You are correct, they met in 1991 and "secretly" married in 2000. I wondered right away about the "honey trap" business.

159 posted on 04/24/2003 7:27:30 PM PDT by cyncooper (thousands of cheering Iraqis yelled, "America, America, America," and "Bush, Bush, Bush.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: okie01
just like that check they found in the trunk of that car in an Arkansas salvage yard.

I brought up the tornado and the car trunk just the other day, too. Actually my husband said he was reminded of it.

160 posted on 04/24/2003 7:29:47 PM PDT by cyncooper (thousands of cheering Iraqis yelled, "America, America, America," and "Bush, Bush, Bush.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 158 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180 ... 201-203 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson