- A furious George Galloway today challenged US senators
to charge him with perjury over claims that he solicited money from Saddam
Hussein's oil-for-food programme and lied about it under oath.
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- The US Senate inquiry into the Bethnal Green and Bow
MP's alleged involvement in the saga claims to have discovered $150,000
(£85,000) in Iraqi oil money in his estranged wife's bank account.
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- Its chairman, the Republican senator Norm Coleman, says
this means Mr Galloway lied under oath when giving evidence to the senate
permanent sub-committee on investigations on May 17, when he offered a
passionate defence against similar claims.
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- Today Mr Galloway repeated denials that he had ever received
any oil cash, and told Mr Coleman to "put up or shut up" by either
bringing a prosecution or dropping the allegations. The Respect MP accused
Mr Coleman of orchestrating a "sneak revenge attack" motivated
by a desire to avenge his "humiliation" at the hearing in May.
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- "I am demanding prosecution, I am begging for prosecution,"
Mr Galloway told Sky News. "I am saying if I have lied under oath
in front of the senate, that's a criminal offence. Charge me and I will
head for the airport right now and face them down in court as I faced them
down in the senate room.
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- "Because I publicly humiliated this lickspittle
senator Norman Coleman - one of [George] Bush's righthand men - in the
US senate in May, this sneak revenge attack has been launched over the
past 24 hours."
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- The committee's new report accuses Mr Galloway of personally
soliciting and being granted eight oil allocations totalling 23m barrels
from the Hussein government between 1999 and 2003.
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- It claims his estranged wife, Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad, received
approximately $150,000 in connection with one allocation of oil. It also
alleges that at least $446,000 was funnelled to Mr Galloway's Mariam Appeal
through several allocations.
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- Senator Coleman said: "I directed the sub-committee
to continue its investigation into Mr Galloway because his testimony at
the May 17, 2005 hearing so clearly conflicted with the evidence. The additional
evidence ... clearly demonstrates that the testimony Mr Galloway provided
to the sub-committee was false and misleading."
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- In its initial report the committee accused the former
Labour MP of receiving 20m barrels of oil from Saddam Hussein's regime.
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- Dr Abu-Zayyad is quoted in the report specifically denying
she received any money. Asked whether she or her husband had benefited
from Iraqi oil sales, she replied to the committee in writing yesterday:
"I have never solicited or received from Iraq or anyone else any proceeds
of any oil deals, either for myself or for my former husband."
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- The committee attributes its findings to personal interviews
with high-level members of the Hussein regime, anonymous oil traders with
personal knowledge of Mr Galloway's involvement and extensive bank records.
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- It claims that a Jordanian businessman and friend of
Mr Galloway's, Fawaz Zureikat, channelled the money from the UN oil-for-food
programme to the MP's former wife and to the Mariam Appeal.
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- It also cites testimony from the former Iraqi deputy
prime minister Tariq Aziz who has been in jail since the US invasion of
Iraq and who allegedly told investigators Mr Galloway had requested oil
allocations in the name of Mr Zureikat.
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- The report also quotes the former Iraqi oil minister
Amer Rashid as confirming Mr Galloway was granted oil allocations.
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- The committee then printed alleged documents that it
claimed proved the money transfers were made. A senate aide said the information
had been turned over to the US Department of Justice, which potentially
had the power to press charges of perjury. The information will also be
given to the British authorities.
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- The Respect MP recently won £150,000 in libel damages
after suing the Telegraph over documents published in 2003, in which he
was said to have asked for an increased allocation from the oil-for-food
programme. The newspaper is currently appealing that ruling.
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1600269,00.html
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