More allegations as Galloway slams 'fantastic' lie

Further allegations about the alleged ties between Labour MP George Galloway and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein have emerged today in the Daily Telegraph.

In this latest report, the newspaper claims that Saddam Hussein tried to protect the maverick Labour Parliamentarian by closing contacts between Mr Galloway and the Iraqi intelligence service. The newspaper also claims that Mr Galloway's contacts with the regime went right across the "pinnacle" of the Ba'ath Party.

However, George Galloway, writing in the Tribune newspaper today, has mounted a strong defence of his position and said that the information on which the newspaper has based its claims is "simply false".

Mr Galloway also accused the government of hypocrisy, writing that political funding is "seldom the prettiest of sights" as, he said, Tony Blair had suffered damaging revelations over "blind trusts" and Bertie Ecclestone's £1 million donation – the Prime Minister's backing of Lakshmi Mittal also earned the government some damaging headlines, he added.

Mr Galloway has become known for his strong views over Iraq and the Labour Party is undertaking internal disciplinary action against him over an interview he gave to an Arab-language television station. However, this week's Daily Telegraph has carried a number of unprecedented allegations against the MP.

The most serious of which is that Mr Galloway received hundreds of thousands of pounds from Iraq through the food for oil programme. The Glasgow Kelvin MP again rejected the allegation today describing it as a "lie of fantastic proportions".

The Daily Telegraph also claims that Iraqi money was siphoned off into the Mariam Appeal – a charity Mr Galloway set up in opposition to international embargos against Iraq. However, Mr Galloway today said that the majority of the money he received for that fund came mostly from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Mr Galloway stated once again that the most reasonable explanation for the existence of any documentation was simple forgery.

The Daily Telegraph says that its reporter discovered the documents in the bombed out Iraqi foreign ministry in Baghdad. The paper's editor, Charles Moore, has said that he stands by the story and the integrity of his reporter.

For his part, Mr Galloway has begun legal proceedings against the Daily Telegraph over the allegations.

(GMcG)