British politician accepts Iraq libel damages

Reuters | Friday, March 19, 2004

[JohnHuang2]

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - A British politician accepted libel damages from an American newspaper on Friday over a story which alleged he took $10 million to support former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Galloway, one of Britain's most outspoken anti-war campaigners, sued the Christian Science Monitor over an article headlined "Newly found Iraqi files raise heat on British MP" (member of parliament).

The April 2003 story cited documents given to a journalist by an Iraqi general which purported to show Galloway had received payments in return for his "courageous and daring stands against the enemies of Iraq."

Galloway's lawyer Mark Bateman accepted a formal apology during a brief hearing at the High Court in London on Friday.

"The allegations... that (he) opposed the U.N.-imposed sanctions on Iraq and, thereafter, the recent conflict in Iraq, because he had been paid by the Iraqi regime, are false and without foundation," Bateman told the court.

He said the Monitor, which is available to readers in Britain on the Internet, now accepted there was no truth in the allegations and had paid the MP substantial, undisclosed damages.

Galloway was expelled from British Prime Minister Tony Blair's ruling Labour Party last October after branding Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush "wolves."

The daily newspaper, founded in 1908, is owned and published by the First Church of Christ, Scientist, based in Boston, Massachusetts.

The church said it "deeply regretted" publishing the article.

"The Christian Science Monitor published the article based on documents which it believed were genuine, but which it now accepts were forgeries," the publisher's lawyer Julia Schoepflin, told the court.

[JohnHuang2]

Friday, March 19, 2004

Quote of the Day by Smartass

[Dog Gone]

Galloway is still a twit.

[blanknoone]

"The allegations... that (he) opposed the U.N.-imposed sanctions on Iraq and, thereafter, the recent conflict in Iraq, because he had been paid by the Iraqi regime, are false and without foundation," Bateman told the court.

Just because he received oil vouchers, that does not mean that was the reason he supported Saddam's regime.

[JohnGalt]

forgeries

Any relation to the Niger Uranium document forgeries, I wonder?

[Ben Hecks]

"The Christian Science Monitor published the article based on documents which it believed were genuine, but which it now accepts were forgeries," the publisher's lawyer Julia Schoepflin, told the court.

More recent evidence suggests that the only thing wrong in the CSM article was the amount of money that Galloway took under the table.

[dighton]

If I'm not mistaken, the Sun and Telegraph are hanging tough.

[general_re]

Last I heard it was still pending. Different set of documents, though, not the fakes that CSM ran with...

[telebob]

Galloway is correct. He was rewarded with oil contracts for his support. He was not bribed for his support.

[ApplegateRanch]

There is no truth whatsoever that the rewards I accepted were bribes, nor influenced me in any way.

I just never told Sodamn Insane that I intended to support him for free, because we are kindred spirits.

Any appearance to the contrary is strictly coincidental.

And those oil-for-food vouchers are forged plants by my many irrational enemies, who can not stand my many wonderful humanitarian works for the downtrodden peaceloving Palestinian people, and that are modeled on my friend and mentor, Sodamn Insane.

(ss) Galloway

[wildbill]

Isn't more information coming out about Galloway to the effect that he received some of Saddam's special oil rates?

May have settled the suit too soon.