Could Galloway be the victim of a smear campaign?

LONDON, April 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – After winning strong support from his Glasgow Kelvin constituency party Tuesday, UK Labor MP George Galloway said he would stand as an independent if Labor removed the whip. He said that it would be "entirely improper" for Labor to try to throw him out during a libel action.

On Tuesday night, a spokeswoman for the UK Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, confirmed that he was studying separate claims that Galloway had spent some of the money from his Mariam Appeal, meant to be used for treating sick Iraqi children, to fund his travel.

"I can confirm that we have received a letter from a member of the public ... saying there have been allegations of misuse of funds," the spokeswoman said.

However, Galloway told the BBC's Newsnight that he would throw the campaign's accounts open to scrutiny, reported The Independent.

The MP denied he had ever taken "a penny from Iraq". He said he had never knowingly met an Iraqi intelligence officer, but said he was checking his records to see who he met on Boxing Day 1999, when he is alleged to have met an Iraqi spy.

George Galloway's future as a Labor MP was under serious threat after the party leadership promised to investigate newspaper allegations that he took massive sums of money from Saddam Hussein's regime.

Labor appeared likely to withdraw the whip from Galloway, despite his fierce denials. That would prevent him from standing as a Labor candidate at the general election if the suspension stood.

Galloway is known for his vociferous opposition to the war against Iraq despite threats of being expulsed from the Labor as a Glasgow Kelvin MP.

In a recent interview, he accused Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush of lying to the armed forces about the likely length of the war.

Before the invasion, he criticized the plans saying that a “quarter-million man crusader invasion” of Iraq is being planned just because a “particular dictator doesn’t obey our orders”.

Questioning the legality of the war and urging British soldiers to refuse to obey "illegal orders", Galloway said the two leaders have lied to the British Air Force and Navy when they said the battle of Iraq would be very quick and easy.

"They attacked Iraq like wolves. They attacked civilians," he said.

With Iraqi children

Seething with fury at the remarks, Blair said that Labor Party "has got its own rules for dealing with that. The National Executive will deal with it".

"I am not going to set him up as a martyr to me. Let the party look at it on behalf of ordinary Labor Party members. People were very angry."

The Daily Telegraph alleged that a document it found in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry appeared to show that Galloway took £375,000 a year from the Iraqi government, and had demanded even more.

On Wednesday, April 23, the newspaper claims to have a further alleged letter, from Saddam Hussein's most senior aide, conveying Saddam's personal message that a request for cash from Galloway should be rejected. The letter asks officials to review the request.

On Tuesday, Galloway said he would be suing the newspaper over the original claims. A statement from Davenport Lyons, Galloway's solicitors, said: "The allegations are totally untrue and he has decided to take whatever legal action is necessary."

If he pursues legal action, Labor will decline to investigate the money claims further as they would be sub judice.

"This is a pile of black propaganda, intelligence hocus pocus and the Daily Telegraph have either been a party to it or they have been hoodwinked by it," the Scottish MP said.

"But either way, they will answer for it in front of the British courts."