GEORGE Galloway arrived in Washington DC last night on a crusade to clear his name, claiming the personal attack made against him by US senators was nothing more than a crude attempt to divert attention from the crisis in Iraq.
"This is vengeance. It's diversion tactics, to divert attention from the unmitigated disaster that the American occupation of Iraq is turning into. Nearly 500 people have been killed in May, and we're only halfway through it, " he said.
The Senate's homeland security subcommittee claims that official Iraqi documents and testimony by some of Saddam Hussein's officials show that the Scottish politician benefited financially from the illegal trade in 20 million barrels of Iraqi oil under the United Nations' oil for food (OFF) programme. Mr Galloway, the former MP for Glasgow Kelvin, vehemently denies the charge and will defend himself today at a public hearing of the subcommittee due at 2.30pm UK time.
Ahead of the televised grilling, which could last for two hours, Norm Coleman, the subcommittee chairman, said: "The evidence is clear. It is incontrovertible that George Galloway received allocations from Saddam Hussein, that he financially benefited from that, that he did it over a period of time."
Before he left London's Heathrow airport, the 50-yearold leader of the anti-war Respect party, who overturned a 10,000 Labour majority to take the seat of Bethnal Green and Bow, said: "The truth is I have never bought or sold a drop of oil from Iraq, or sold or bought a drop of oil from anybody. If I had, I would be a very rich man and the person who made me rich would already be in the public domain."
In December, Mr Galloway won a libel action against the Daily Telegraph over claims relating to the OFF programme.
Last month, the newspaperwon permission to appeal against the ruling to pay him pounds-150,000 in damages and pounds-1.2m in costs.
As the subcommittee published another report on alleged abuse of the OFF programme by Russian leaders, Moscow said the Senate's criticism appeared to be aimed at discrediting the UN. It said American senators should mind their own business.
The Russian foreign ministry said: "It is difficult to avoid the impression that the senators are trying to discredit the United Nations as a whole, pointing fingers at other countries while leaving the participation of American firms . . . outside the brackets, ie blameless.
"It would be more logical for them to attend to seeking violations in their own country."
The ministry pointed out it was co-operating with a UNappointed commission investigating the OFF programme.
Despite two visits to Moscow, the commission had not provided "any documented facts that would point to possible abuses by Russian companies or individuals, " noted the ministry.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the Russian MP, who the subcommittee claimed had received Iraqi oil allocations worth pounds-5m, said: "I did not sign a single contract. I did not receive a single cent from Iraq ? not a kopeck."
Also last night, the BBC defended Jeremy Paxman's election night interview with Mr Galloway after his victory over Labour's Oona King, as the corporation received more than 100 complaints .
Sue Inglish, BBC head of political programmes, said he had only brought up Ms King's race because a studio guest had raised the issue and so it was "a pertinent question to ask".
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