British MP denies new US allegations in oil-for-food scandal News
British MP denies new US allegations in oil-for-food scandal

[JURIST] British Member of Parliament George Galloway [BBC profile] Tuesday rejected fresh accusations from US congressional investigators that he profited from the now defunct UN Oil-for-Food Program [official website; JURIST news archive] in Iraq. The new report [PDF] from the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations [official website] will be handed over to the US Justice Department and to British authorities. A hearing before the investigations subcommittee has been scheduled for October 31 [agenda]. Earlier this year, Galloway vehemently denied charges [JURIST report] that he benefited from the program while testifying during an investigations subcommittee hearing [agenda and prepared testimony] after the subcommittee released a report [PDF text] accusing Galloway, a staunch and outspoken opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq, of accepting "allocations" of 11 million barrels of oil from Saddam Hussein from 1999-2003. US Congressional investigators also allege that Galloway knowingly made false or misleading statements to Congress when he denied these charges in May. Galloway called the fresh allegations "utterly preposterous" and goaded investigators to charge him with perjury. Reuters has more.