Reuters:Black Quits in Payments Probe
Mon November 17, 2003 05:35 AM ET
(Page 1 of 2)
By Adam Pasick and Jamie Paton
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Press baron Conrad Black is stepping down as chief
executive of publisher Hollinger International after the discovery of $32 million
in unauthorized payments to him and other top executives.
Part or all of Black's publishing empire -- which includes London's Daily Telegraph,
the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post -- could be put up for sale, with
Lazard LLC hired to evaluate strategic alternatives, the company said on Monday.
Black, who renounced his Canadian citizenship to join the British House of Lords,
has grappled with investors angry about his company's Byzantine ownership structure
and business deals with companies controlled by its own executives.
He has fiercely defended his practices, and denied reports that the business
is short of funds. However, several recent discussions with private equity groups
over a possible cash investment have come to naught...More>>
The Guardian: Why I will stand against New Labour
Blair's hallmark policies of war and privatisation must be challenged
George Galloway
Thursday October 30, 2003
The last straw for many - and the one which helped break the back of my own
reluctance to take the electoral field against New Labour - wasn't in the end
something said by Tony Blair.
The defining moment was, instead, when David Blunkett, confronted by BBC undercover
revelations about racism in the police, laid not into the constable in the
Ku Klux Klan hood, but into the braveheart who unmasked him. When it later
emerged that Blunkett had tried to mount a Gilligan-style intimidation operation
to have the programme suppressed, it became clear that New Labour has learned
nothing from the death in the woods of David Kelly.
The recall of Britain's ambassador to Uzbekistan by the less-than-ethical foreign
secretary, Jack Straw, for the crime of complaining that the Uzbek dictator
was boiling his critics to death, meanwhile showed the sheer depths of the
double standards employed by New Labour towards dictatorships.
Fortunately, such punishments were not available to the panel of "judges",
led by the tight-lipped tricoteuse Rose Di Georgio Burley, at my New Labour
show trial last week. When I saw Ms Burley metaphorically knitting throughout
the testimony in my favour from Michael Foot, Tony Benn and and the new TGWU
leader Tony Woodley, I knew my head was off. I had been told as much by the
prime minister as far back as April, six days before disciplinary proceedings
were begun, when he let it be known to the Sun that I was for "the axe".
But it is Mr Blair who is losing his head while, all about him, more and more
Labour supporters are coming to their senses about his leadership. How else
to explain the sheer political madness of inviting George Bush, the most unpopular
political leader in the world, for a three-day state visit next month?..More>>
Aljazeera: George Galloway's historic speech
Thursday 30 October 2003, 4:27 Makka Time, 1:27 GMT
Galloway wants to revolutionise British politicsGeorge Galloway's historic speech, which could change the face of British
politics for ever, is given in its entirety below.It is a misunderstanding
created by circumstances that I am interested only in Middle Eastern affairs
- notably, the struggle for self determination of the Palestinian people and against the
horrific effects of sanctions and war on the Iraqi people during Saddam's
vile dictatorship.
I have been, of course, passionately engaged in these issues but my interest
in opposing all forms of imperialism - including the fashionable neo-liberal
version of Mr Blair - arises from a deep patriotism about my own islands.
Empire resulted in the cruelty and oppression of millions outside these islands
but it also helped to sustain the power of a ruling elite whose basic greed
and sometimes malice, where it was not mere indifference and incompetence,
oppressed its own people first before it turned its gaze on peoples of different
hue and faith....More>>
George Galloway: 'I will not be silenced'
Socialist Worker
29th October 2003
George Galloway told meetings last weekend why Blair won't crush him or the movement
" IT TOOK them all of 36 seconds to tell me I was expelled. That's one second
for every year I've been a member of the Labour Party. It was a bitter blow,
to be
expelled by this anti-Labour clique. The Labour leaders say they want freedom
of speech in Baghdad, but they don't want freedom of speech in Westminster. They
want a puppet parliament just like the one Saddam Hussein used to have.
My expulsion is about intimidating others and building a dam to stop the torrent
of opposition, analysis and criticism threatening to overwhelm this government.
But I am in good heart. Look at the scale of our movement. We intend to make
this government pay for its crimes. I am listening to the movement over what
to do next. This week certainly marks a turning point.
I didn't want to be expelled. But it's also not been easy over the last few years
to be a member of the Labour Party. There have been so many betrayals of the
basic socialist principles. Just consider two of the most recent.
On Tuesday of last week the BBC broadcast a superb piece of journalism. An undercover
reporter exposed a chilling and sickening level of police racism. It was a very
brave undertaking.
And what of Labour home secretary David Blunkett? His department tries to have
the programme suppressed and he accuses the BBC two days before the broadcast
of "seeking attention" and "creating the news". The reporter
is arrested and still faces charges. Blunkett, a Labour home secretary, is to
the right of Tory old Etonian Oliver Letwin....More>>
The
Scotsman:
Galloway Rounds on Blair and New Labour ‘Clique’
By Andrew Barrow, PA News
Rebel MP George Galloway delivered a stinging rebuke to Tony Blair and his Government
tonight, saying the Prime Minister was George W Bush’s “monkey” and
that Home Secretary David Blunkett would never have been given a place in the
most right-wing of Mrs Thatcher’s governments.
Speaking at a gathering of the Northampton Stop The War Coalition, the Glasgow
Kelvin MP also branded US President George W Bush an “imbecile” and
urged protesters to join national demonstrations organised to coincide with his
visit to Britain next month.
The anti-war MP was expelled by Labour’s disciplinary committee last week
for bringing the party in disrepute for inciting Arabs to attack British troops
and backing anti-war candidates. He has vowed to continue to oppose the treatment
of Iraq as an independent candidate.
His party membership was suspended in May after an interview on Abu Dhabi TV
in which he accused Mr Blair and President Bush of acting “like wolves”.
Mr Galloway was given a standing ovation by the 200 activists and trade union
members at the town’s Guildhall tonight.
Describing the expulsion process as “painful” and “wounding”,
he blamed a New Labour “clique” for his removal from the party which
he had been a member of since the age of 13...More>>
Palestine Chronicle: Anti-Galloway Action a Labour Attack on Freedom of Speech
Friday, October 24 2003 @ 06:35 PM EDT
" So Labour officials later came up with two extra charges: That Galloway
warned
MPs they could lose votes if they backed the war and congratulated a councilor
elected to Preston council .."
By SEUMAS MILNE
The Guardian
LONDON - You might think the last thing
Tony Blair needs right now is the ritual purge of a prominent Labour MP for speaking
out against the US-British invasion of Iraq. This is, after all, a prime minister
who faces a potentially job-threatening judgment on the conflict’s aftermath
from Lord Hutton, increasingly grim news from occupied Iraq itself, and an electorate
who mostly believe the war was wrong and that Blair lied about it. But expulsion
seems to be what is being prepared for the party’s leading anti-war campaigner,
George Galloway, arraigned before New Labour’s own star chamber on Wednesday
on charges of bringing the party into disrepute...More>>
The Inquisitor: The Inquisitor Vindicated As Galloway Accusations Unravel
The Christian Science Monitor, a Boston-based international newspaper,
has issued an apology to George Galloway, and retracted the claim that the
acid-tongued
anti-war politician might have accepted as much as $10 million from Saddam's
regime over the past ten or eleven years. Representatives of the newspaper
have also admitted that the documents upon which it based its stories were
now proven to be forgeries.
Paul Van Slambrouck, the Christian Science Monitor's editor, has issued an
apology to both Galloway and the paper's readership. "It is important
to set the record straight," he said. "We are convinced the documents
are bogus. We apologize to Mr Galloway and our readers."...More>> The
Inquisitor 24.06.03
Christian Science Monitor: Galloway papers deemed forgeries
Iraq experts, ink-aging tests discredit documents behind earlier Monitor story.
On April 25, 2003, this newspaper ran a story about documents obtained in Iraq
that alleged Saddam Hussein's regime had paid a British member of Parliament,
George Galloway, $10 million over 11 years to promote its interests in the West.
An extensive Monitor investigation has subsequently determined that the six papers
detailed in the April 25 piece are, in fact, almost certainly forgeries.
The Arabic text of the papers is inconsistent with known examples of Baghdad
bureaucratic writing, and is replete with problematic language, says a leading
US-based expert on Iraqi government documents. Signature lines and other format
elements differ from genuine procedure.
The two "oldest" documents - dated 1992 and 1993 - were actually written
within the past few months, according to a chemical analysis of their ink. The
newest document - dated 2003 - appears to have been written at approximately
the same time...More>> CSM
20.06.03
Arab News: George Galloway: Monster or Martyr?
Arab News recently interviewed George Galloway, the British MP at the center
of allegations of financial involvement with Saddam Hussein’s regime. These
are based largely on documents allegedly discovered by a reporter for the Daily
Telegraph in a burned-out building in Baghdad. They purport to support accusations
of a relationship involving millions of dollars. Galloway has strenuously denied
involvement and maintains the documents are forgeries. He is currently suing
the Telegraph as well as two other papers. This is the first of a two-part interview.
LONDON, 17 June 2003 — “It’s a change to have a conversation
uninterrupted.” Galloway reflected on the apparent oxymoron as we parted,
a comment on the barrage of media commentary and criticism he has received since
the alleged discovery of documents in Baghdad that seek to link him financially
to Saddam Hussein’s regime...More>> Arab
News 17.06.03
Manchester Anti-War Movement Defends George Galloway MP
On 9th May 2003, over 400 people attended a public rally in Manchester, UK to
defend George Galloway MP against a media witch-hunt being perpetrated against
him by the British warmongering Establishment.
The witch-hunt against Galloway, a long-time Labour MP, results from his vigorous
opposition to the Iraq War, including calling upon British troops to disobey
orders to prosecute the war on the grounds that it was against international
law and was therefore illegal...More>> Oneworld
TV
15.06.03
Socialist Worker: Outrage at attempt to silence Galloway
THE LABOUR Party's top committee has sparked outrage by refusing to
lift the suspension of anti-war MP George Galloway and even closing down
discussion on the issue. The undemocratic
scenes at Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC) on Tuesday of this week
underline widespread suspicions that Labour's hierarchy will use every dirty
trick against the most prominent
anti-war figure in Britain...More>> Socialist
Worker 11.06.03
The Scotsman: Galloway fails to halt Labour Party inquiry
GEORGE Galloway failed in his attempt yesterday to shake
off a Labour Party investigation
into his links with Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.
The controversial MP for Glasgow Kelvin had hoped his allies on Labour’s
ruling National Executive Committee would succeed in having his suspension from
the party revoked.
Members of trade unions on the NEC broke ranks and called for Mr Galloway’s "unfair
and unjustified" suspension to be overturned.
The outburst by three members confirmed Tony Blair’s leadership will now
be dogged by an "awkward squad" from the Left, determined to derail
the New Labour project.
The issue was not formally tabled yesterday, but minutes from the disputes panel
dealing with complaints against Mr Galloway’s outbursts on Iraq were presented
to senior party members.
However, the debate fell flat after a pro-Blair member of the committee used
a procedural ploy to curtail the discussion...More>> The Scotsman 11.06.03
The Scotsman: Constituency party want Galloway's reinstatement
THE constituency party of suspended rebel MP George
Galloway last night urged Labour leaders to consider
reinstating him. The controversial Glasgow Kelvin MP
had been barred from a meeting
in his constituency after being suspended by the party
over anti-war remarks during an interview with an Arab TV station.
But members of the general committee for Mr Galloway’s constituency said they
would urge party bosses to return his status as a full party member pending
an investigation into the alleged comments...More>> Scotsman
31.05.03
Letter to Guardian: Lift the Galloway ban
The Labour party's decision to suspend George Galloway
for what he said in two television interviews against
the war on
Iraq is both wrong and potentially damaging to the
party. It should be lifted by the national executive
committee at
its next meeting on June 10...More>> Guardian
Letters 20.05.03
The Scotsman: Foot gives Galloway his support
MICHAEL Foot, the former Labour leader, is advising
George Galloway as the maverick MP fights his suspension
from the Labour Party and
prepares for a possible libel action over claims he took money from
Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The public show of support by Mr Foot, 90, a heroic figure among the
Labour left, is an embarrassment for the Labour Party, which last week
suspended Mr Galloway, the MP for Glasgow Kelvin, pending the outcome of
"internal party investigations"...More>> Scotsman
17.05.03
Scotsman Poll: Over 70% back Galloway
Vote online: Is George Galloway the victim of a witch-hunt or does he deserve
all he gets?
Documents Forged
Already the witch-hunt against George Galloway MP is
unravelling. A report in the Mail on Sunday, 11 May,
revealed that the newspaper has uncovered evidence
that documents
incriminating the MP are forgeries.
The Mail had paid £1500 for documents claiming
to show that Galloway received millions of pounds
from the Saddam regime. Now the paper admits that
the documents
it bought were crude forgeries 'littered with inaccuracies'.
These documents have been used in reports by the
Christian Science Monitor and given credibility in
many
other
newspapers... More>>
Socialist Worker: Exclusive report on evidence of plot to smear George Galloway
Evidence of a sinister smear campaign
against anti-war MP George Galloway is mounting following
a mysterious break in at the office
of an independent
TV production
company he is associated with.
Files, videos and computer hard drives were removed from AVL Media in Kilmarnock
on the very day the Daily Telegraph published its outlandish claims about
Galloway.
Eyewitnesses say they saw two police officers taking the equipment on Tuesday
22 April. The two men,
one in police uniform, said they were taking it "for safekeeping". One month
later and Ron McKay, director of AVL Media, has had no response from the police
about where his property is...More>> Socialist worker 21.05.03
Guardian: Galloway Interview
We first spoke on the 14 January, which is an auspicious date.
One of the newspapers I'm suing, the Christian Science Monitor,
has me in Baghdad personally picking
up $3m from Saddam Hussein's son, and carrying it over three national frontiers,
but in fact I think you'll find I was sitting in my office in Westminster with
you. So you have a small part in this legal action I'm involved in.
I hope Mr Blair is proud of himself. He really has done everything that he can
to ensure the reelection of the most rightwing fundamentalist American president
the country has ever seen...More>> Guardian 21.05.03
BBC: Galloway hits back at Blair
Suspended Labour MP George Galloway has launched a defiant
attack on Tony Blair.
The Glasgow Kelvin MP told a rally in Glasgow that
the Prime Minister had betrayed
the UK by putting the country into the "the first ranks of the hated on
the earth".
During a 30-minute speech to a Globalise Resistance rally, Mr Galloway again
dismissed claims that he had received 15 million US dollars (£9.25m) from
Saddam Hussein's regime.
And he warned the Labour Party against using his suspension to ensure he could
not be selected as a party candidate at the next election. BBC 17.05.03. More>>
Galloway's accuser is right wing Tory
"Gorgeous
has been accused in The Torygraph of taking funds from
Saddam. The Labour Party, which in the past wouldn't
have used the right-wing rag as loo paper, seems to
agree . But how much credence should we put in what
the Torygraph reports?
In the wake of the affair it printed an intemperate editorial
accusing Mr Galloway of treason. The author of that editorial
was not the editor, as naive readers might expect, but
one Daniel
Hannan, who is also a Tory MEP. So, lest you
are inclined to join in the wholesale condemnation of
Gorgeous, it is worth noting that one of his chief accusers
is a some-time supporter of the far-right Danish People's
Party, whose policies include the castration of paedophiles,
the repatriation of refugees and the privatisation of
third world aid. Nice." Sunday Herald 10.05.03
BBC: Daniel Hannan, Tory MEP faces Euro-inquiry
The European Parliament has launched an investigation into
the possible misuse of its facilities by a Conservative
MEP campaigning for a No vote in the Danish euro referendum
at the end of this month. BBC 05.09.00
Guardian: Hague urged to curb MEP's anti-euro foray
William Hague was urged last night
to disassociate himself from a rightwing Tory Euro-MP who
is to address the annual congress of an ultra-nationalist
Danish party which supports the repatriation of refugees.
Guardian 28.09.00
Socialist Worker: Forgeries blast case against anti-war
MP
"I BELIEVE the documents are a forgery by someone
who had no familiarity with the inner workings of the Iraqi
intelligence service." With those words a "highly
regarded expert" blew a gaping hole in the smear campaign
against anti-war MP George Galloway on Sunday. The expert
had examined thousands of official papers captured from
the Iraqi regime by Western intelligence agencies in the
1991 Gulf War. Socialist worker 14.05.03
Roy
Greenslade: This campaign is an affront to justice and free speech
The Galloway saga has eerie echoes of the Scargill affair of 1990...
Galloway, unlike previous party miscreants, is being traduced for
nothing more than stating an opinion. Labour is trampling on the
rights of one of its own MPs to speak his mind at a crucial moment.
Guardian 08.05.03
Inquisitor: The George Galloway Puzzle
British Member of Parliament George Galloway stands accused of accepting bribes from Saddam Hussein.
But some of the evidence looks suspicious. The Inquisitor 05.05.03
Scott Ritter: Galloway's a crook - how convenient
These dramatic revelations come just when Britain
needs an outspoken voice of dissent more than ever. Guardian 25.04.03
Full text of statement to BBC by George Galloway
Text of Tribune Article: "
I've never personally benefited from my work on Iraq; I have given my political life's blood to this fight"
Letter to Lord Goldsmith in defence of the Mariam Appeal
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