Saddam's friend George Galloway (who once praised the dictator for his "courage and indefatigability") has been suspended from the House of Commons over illicit Iraq cash.
Scotsman Galloway, a member of Left-wing political party Respect, is Member of Parliament for London borough Bethnal Green and Bow, an area with a large Muslim population.
Galloway faces Commons ban over 'illicit' Iraq cash
17th July 2007
Daily Mail
Respect MP George Galloway: expelled by Labour
Respect MP George Galloway should be suspended from the House of Commons for 18 sitting days over illicit cash deadlings in Iraq, the Standards and Privileges Committee has said.
The committee criticised Mr Galloway's conduct which aimed to "conceal the true source of Iraqi funding" to his Mariam Appeal - a charity he set up.
Mr Galloway was also criticised for his failure to co-operate with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
The committee backed a finding that there was "strong circumstantial evidence" that his Mariam Appeal received cash from the UK's Oil for Food Programme "with Mr Galloway's connivance".
It also said the MP had been "complicit in the concealment of the true source of the funds" and had "damaged the reputation of the House".
And it added he was "clearly irresponsible" in refusing to look into the source of substantial donations to the fund.
Any ban - which requires the backing of MPs - would take effect from October when the Commons returns from its summer recess.
Galloway is a member of the left-wing, socialist political party Respect - its name is an acronym of Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community, and Trade Unionism.
Mr Galloway, who became an MP for his own Respect party after being expelled from Labour, may also be asked to apologise for his behaviour by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Philip Mawer.
Sir Philip has delivered the committee's hard-hitting condemnation of Mr Galloway's conduct - both in terms of the charity and his approach to the inquiry.
He said the MP had "consistently failed to live up to the expectation of openness and straightforwardness" and considered the inquiry part of an "attempted political assassination".
Mr Galloway repeatedly denied facts, attacked witnesses "without justification" and made "wholly incorrect allegations without any factual basis", the report said.
Sir Philip also criticised the MP for arguing that securing the end of sanctions on Iraq "justified any and all the means he employed to achieve it".
"That is a dangerous argument for anyone to advance, however noble they believe their cause.
"It is in part to prevent the excesses and distortions to which such an approach can give rise - and to which the evidence shows they gave rise in this case - that behavioural frameworks like Codes of Conduct exist."
Mr Galloway was previously condemned by the Charity Commission for "unacceptably" failing to prevent his Mariam Appeal being bankrolled with money from Saddam Hussein's regime.
He said it was found again that he did "not benefit by a single penny" from Iraq, from the oil for food programme or any other Iraqi source.
The committe's findings follow last month's damning report by the Charity Commission which concluded that the Mariam Appeal - established in 1998 to deliver medical aid to Iraq and arrange treatment outside the country for sick Iraqi children - took 'significant' amounts of money improperly from Iraq.
It said Mr Galloway, a trustee, may have known the appeal - which campaigned against sanctions on Iraq - received £230,000 of aid money that had been diverted from the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq.
The charity watchdog's report, published after a 16-month inquiry, found that Mr Galloway and fellow trustees broke the law by taking the cash, but it only gave him a slap on the wrist because the money was all spent on humanitarian causes.
The Commons ban will be one of the most severe given to an MP.
Mr Galloway, who was ridiculed after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and claims he is the victim of a smear campaign.
He called the Charity Commission findings 'sloppy, misleading and partial'.
The Mariam Appeal has never filed any accounts and the parliamentary authorities have been unable to account for some expenditure.
The MP was expelled from Labour in October 2003 after his outspoken comments on the Iraq war.
He accused Tony Blair and President Bush of acting 'like wolves' in invading Iraq.
dailymail.co.uk
Scotsman Galloway, a member of Left-wing political party Respect, is Member of Parliament for London borough Bethnal Green and Bow, an area with a large Muslim population.
Galloway faces Commons ban over 'illicit' Iraq cash
17th July 2007
Daily Mail
Respect MP George Galloway: expelled by Labour
Respect MP George Galloway should be suspended from the House of Commons for 18 sitting days over illicit cash deadlings in Iraq, the Standards and Privileges Committee has said.
The committee criticised Mr Galloway's conduct which aimed to "conceal the true source of Iraqi funding" to his Mariam Appeal - a charity he set up.
Mr Galloway was also criticised for his failure to co-operate with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
The committee backed a finding that there was "strong circumstantial evidence" that his Mariam Appeal received cash from the UK's Oil for Food Programme "with Mr Galloway's connivance".
It also said the MP had been "complicit in the concealment of the true source of the funds" and had "damaged the reputation of the House".
And it added he was "clearly irresponsible" in refusing to look into the source of substantial donations to the fund.
Any ban - which requires the backing of MPs - would take effect from October when the Commons returns from its summer recess.
Galloway is a member of the left-wing, socialist political party Respect - its name is an acronym of Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community, and Trade Unionism.
Mr Galloway, who became an MP for his own Respect party after being expelled from Labour, may also be asked to apologise for his behaviour by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Sir Philip Mawer.
Sir Philip has delivered the committee's hard-hitting condemnation of Mr Galloway's conduct - both in terms of the charity and his approach to the inquiry.
He said the MP had "consistently failed to live up to the expectation of openness and straightforwardness" and considered the inquiry part of an "attempted political assassination".
Mr Galloway repeatedly denied facts, attacked witnesses "without justification" and made "wholly incorrect allegations without any factual basis", the report said.
Sir Philip also criticised the MP for arguing that securing the end of sanctions on Iraq "justified any and all the means he employed to achieve it".
"That is a dangerous argument for anyone to advance, however noble they believe their cause.
"It is in part to prevent the excesses and distortions to which such an approach can give rise - and to which the evidence shows they gave rise in this case - that behavioural frameworks like Codes of Conduct exist."
Mr Galloway was previously condemned by the Charity Commission for "unacceptably" failing to prevent his Mariam Appeal being bankrolled with money from Saddam Hussein's regime.
He said it was found again that he did "not benefit by a single penny" from Iraq, from the oil for food programme or any other Iraqi source.
The committe's findings follow last month's damning report by the Charity Commission which concluded that the Mariam Appeal - established in 1998 to deliver medical aid to Iraq and arrange treatment outside the country for sick Iraqi children - took 'significant' amounts of money improperly from Iraq.
It said Mr Galloway, a trustee, may have known the appeal - which campaigned against sanctions on Iraq - received £230,000 of aid money that had been diverted from the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq.
The charity watchdog's report, published after a 16-month inquiry, found that Mr Galloway and fellow trustees broke the law by taking the cash, but it only gave him a slap on the wrist because the money was all spent on humanitarian causes.
The Commons ban will be one of the most severe given to an MP.
Mr Galloway, who was ridiculed after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and claims he is the victim of a smear campaign.
He called the Charity Commission findings 'sloppy, misleading and partial'.
The Mariam Appeal has never filed any accounts and the parliamentary authorities have been unable to account for some expenditure.
The MP was expelled from Labour in October 2003 after his outspoken comments on the Iraq war.
He accused Tony Blair and President Bush of acting 'like wolves' in invading Iraq.
dailymail.co.uk
