George Galloway

Washington, May 12 (Reuters): A US Senate committee said today British parliamentarian George Galloway and former French interior minister Charles Pasqua benefited from the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq, a charge both men denied.

A report by the committee said Galloway had been given “allocations” for 20 million barrels of oil while Pasqua got 11 million barrels, with the personal approval of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Under the programme, which let sanctions-clamped Iraq sell some oil to buy basic goods, such allocations could be sold on to traders for up to 30 cents a barrel.

Both men denied the allegations and said they were not new. Galloway, newly elected to the British Parliament as a Left-wing anti-Iraq war independent, said the claims were absurd.

“This is a lickspittle Republican committee acting on the wishes of (President) George W. Bush,” said Galloway. “Why am I not surprised? Let me repeat: I have never traded in a barrel of oil or any vouchers for it,” he said

Pasqua said the allegations were not new. “I denied, as early as January 2004, and again in October 2004, having received any benefits, in any form whatsoever, from the regime of Saddam Hussein.”