This is in regards to all those smear allegations against George Galloway that were discussed on this board a few months back.
Galloway wins apology from US newspaper, Ciar Byrne, The Guardian, 20 June 2003
An American newspaper has apologised to suspended Labour MP George Galloway over allegations that he was paid millions of pounds by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The Christian Science Monitor, which accused Mr Galloway of accepting payments totalling $10m in return for promoting Saddam’s interests in the west, has admitted that the documents which were the basis for its story appear to be forgeries.
An “extensive investigation” by the Monitor revealed that the six papers, dated between 1992 and 1993, were in fact written within the last few months, according to chemical analysis of the ink.
“At the time we published these documents, we felt they were newsworthy and appeared credible, although we did explicitly state in our article that we could not guarantee their authenticity,” said Paul Van Slambrouck, the editor of the Monitor. "It is important to set the record straight: we are convinced the documents are bogus. We apologize to Mr Galloway and to our readers," he added.
In an interview with the Press Association, Mr Galloway said today he did not accept the newspaper’s apology. “I said from the beginning that these allegations were based on malice, fabrication and forgery and that they would soon fall apart under scrutiny. That is now beginning to happen,” he said. "This newspaper published on its front page in every country in the world that I had taken $10m from Saddam Hussein. That was a grave and serious libel.
“Of course the documents were a forgery and a newspaper of that importance ought to have made the effort, both morally and legally, to establish the authenticity of those documents before they published them.”
Mr Galloway, who was suspended from the Labour party last month pending an internal investigation into whether he brought the party into disrepute by urging British troops not to fight in an illegal war against Iraq, has always denied allegations that he took money from Saddam’s regime.
The MP is also facing inquiries into his pro-Iraq fund, the Mariam appeal, from the charity commission and the commission for parliamentary standards.
