George Galloway has dismissed fresh allegations that he received money from Saddam Hussein’s regime as "like a Private Eye spoof" and vowed to sue the US newspaper that published them.
The Boston-based Christian Science Monitor today ran a front-page story in which it described what it claimed were documents about the Labour MP, found at the home of Saddam’s son Qusay and dating from 1992.
Mr Galloway’s lawyers, Davenport Lyons, issued an immediate denial of the allegations, urging the British media not to repeat them and saying he would begin legal action against the US newspaper.
The MP is already suing the Daily Telegraph for libel over its claims that he was in the pay of Saddam’s regime.
"These allegations are also totally untrue… George Galloway has not received any money from Saddam Hussein’s regime in return for his support or any other reason, and he intends to take legal action in respect of the publication of these false allegations," the firm said in a statement.
In its article the Christian Science Monitor said the documents, which it claimed were discovered by an Iraqi general attached to Saddam’s Republican Guard, "appear to be authentic".
However, the paper admitted it had been unable to verify their authenticity.
Mr Galloway’s lawyers said the MP told them the alleged wording was "bordering on farce and more like a Private Eye spoof".
"These allegations are also totally untrue. George Galloway did not visit Iraq before 1993 and has never met Qusay Hussein or even heard of any of the other people whose names are supposed to be mentioned in the documents," read the lawyers’ statement.
"These documents are also inconsistent with the other documents referred to in the press recently."
Galloway vows to sue US newspaper – The Guardian
