The British Member of Parliament (MP) George Galloway angrily rejected fresh allegations on Monday from a US Senate investigation that he lied under oath about former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's multimillion-dollar oil-for-food program.
The inquiry, headed by Republican Norm Coleman, claimed he had "knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath" when he appeared before a committee hearing in Washington in May. The MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in east London won widespread acclaim, especially from anti-Iraq war campaigners, when he flew to the US capital to confront Coleman.
An assistant to Galloway, Ron McKay, who sat beside him at the senate hearing, said last night that Galloway was prepared to fly to Washington again to face the new allegations.
Galloway and the senator have been at loggerheads since the senate began its inquiry into oil-for-food, a UN humanitarian program intended to alleviate Iraqi suffering from sanctions.
The latest report from the committee claims: "Galloway personally solicited and was granted oil allocations from Iraq during the reign of former president Saddam Hussein. The Hussein regime granted Galloway and the Mariam Appeal [an organization he set up to help Iraqis suffering from sanctions] eight allocations totalling 23m barrels from 1999 through to 2003."
"Galloway's wife, Dr. Amineh Abu-Zayyad, received approximately US$150,000 in connection with one of those oil allocations," it said.
"Galloway's political campaign, the Mariam Appeal, received at least US$446,000 in connection with the oil allocations granted to Galloway and the Mariam Appeal under the oil-for-food program," it said.
"The Hussein regime received improper `surcharge' payments amounting to US$1,642,000 in connection with the oil allocations granted to Galloway and the Mariam Appeal," it said.
"Galloway knowingly made false or misleading statements under oath before the sub-committee," it said.
Galloway said, "There is not a shred of truth in any of these allegations. There has been no impropriety and I have not received even one thin dime from the oil-for-food program."
Former Nicaraguan president Violeta Chamorro, who brought peace to Nicaragua after years of war and was the first woman elected president in the Americas, died on Saturday at the age of 95, her family said. Chamorro, who ruled the poor Central American country from 1990 to 1997, “died in peace, surrounded by the affection and love of her children,” said a statement issued by her four children. As president, Chamorro ended a civil war that had raged for much of the 1980s as US-backed rebels known as the “Contras” fought the leftist Sandinista government. That conflict made Nicaragua one of
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
RSS