23/04/2003

Labour MP denies Iraq pay claims

Labour MP George Galloway has fiercely denied allegations carried in the Daily Telegraph this week in which it is claimed that he received hundreds of thousands of pounds from Saddam Hussein's regime.

The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday that it had documents, recovered from the Iraqi foreign ministry, which allegedly refer to payments made to Mr Galloway from the food for oil programme. In total, the newspaper claims that the maverick Labour MP could have received the equivalent of around £375,000 a year from the Iraqi government.

Mr Galloway, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, has described the story as "black propaganda", adding that if the documents do in fact contain such allegations then they must have been forged. He has said that he intends to sue the Daily Telegraph over the allegations.

Mr Galloway's solicitors are reported as stating: "Mr Galloway has never, directly or indirectly, been granted, nor has he sought, oil or any other commercial contracts with Iraq, nor has he received any money from Saddam Hussein's regime.

"He has also never, so far as he is aware, met any member of Iraqi intelligence."

The Daily Telegraph's editor, Charles Moore, has defended the reports and said that he stood by the story.

(GMcG)

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