George Galloway, the MP, told the High Court yesterday he would have been a "fool, a knave, a thief and corrupt" if he had solicited money from Saddam Hussein for his own enrichment.Case closed?
On the opening day of his libel action against The Daily Telegraph, he described allegations that he was in the pay of the former Iraqi leader as "a deeply wounding dagger through my political heart".
Makes it sound as though he's got another. Perjury!
The MP for Glasgow Kelvin is suing over a series of articles published in April 2003, based on documents the newspaper claims were found in a bombed-out ministry building in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam's regime. Mr Galloway claims the newspaper did not act responsibly in publishing the documents and that the articles alleged he had "been in the pay of Saddam Hussein and his regime, secretly receiving at least £375,000 a year from it". He told Mr Justice Eady, hearing the case without a jury, that the articles claimed he had made "very substantial profits" through the "Oil for Food" programme: "Apparently I received 10 to 15 cents per barrel of 3 million barrels of oil every six months." They also alleged that he had met an Iraqi intelligence officer and asked for "even more" money, and that he had used his "Mariam Appeal" - a campaign fund - as a front to conceal his secret commercial dealings. Mr Galloway said there was not a "scintilla" of evidence to prove the allegations, which were "incredibly damaging".
No "scintilla of evidence" besides the undisputed documents, that is...
The Daily Telegraph denies libel and is claiming a "Reynolds qualified privilege defence". Named after the case in which it was first developed, involving Albert Reynolds, the former Irish premier, it revolves around whether it was responsible journalism and in the public interest for the newspaper to publish the contents of documents on which the story was based. James Price QC, for The Daily Telegraph, said a "striking" fact of the case was that there was "no issue, no dispute" as to the authenticity of the documents.
Galloway's disputing a story concerning the contents of documents he doesn't dispute are authentic?
| The documents are real, but inaccurate. /dan rather |