Galloway Iraq fund had illicit oil cash

A humanitarian fund established by maverick British parliamentarian George Galloway received at least $376,000 of illicit income from the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq, the Charity Commission said yesterday.

Mr Galloway, who set up his appeal in 1998 to aid sick Iraqi children and was also one of its trustees, said the Commission's conclusions were "palpably false" and dismissed its report as sloppy and misleading.

The British regulator said the Mariam Appeal had been given the money - worth around 190,000 pounds at current rates - in donations by one of its trustees, Fawaz Zureikat.

It said Mr Zureikat, a Jordanian businessman and friend of Mr Galloway, paid the money between 2000 and 2002 out of commissions he had received from oil companies obtaining allocations of Iraqi oil.

The Commission published its findings after a 16-month inquiry, following separate US and UN investigations into the oil-for-food programme.

The programme allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy civilian goods for its people living under UN sanctions between 1996 and 2003 but was marred by corruption and oil smuggling.

Mr Galloway said in a statement: "The man who is claimed to be the source of 'improper donations' - Fawaz Zureikat - denies any wrongdoing, has never been charged with any wrongdoing, travels freely in the US and continues to do business in Iraq under the puppet government and its Anglo-US masters."

He has previously rejected accusations by US congressional investigators who said in 2005 they had evidence he profited from the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations also suggested that Mr Galloway used the Mariam Appeal to conceal oil payments.

However, the Charity Commission said it was satisfied that the money received by the fund was spent on its humanitarian purpose.

The appeal's total income until it ceased operation in 2003 was just under 1,468,000 pounds.

But the Commission expressed doubts over Mr Galloway's continued denials that he was aware of any connection between the fund and the oil-for-food programme.