Scandal over Iraqi oil: Senate has uncovered significant evidence

&to=http:// english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/15425_Blair.html ' target=_blank>George Galloway, the newly elected MP for the anti-war Respect party in east London, this morning faces allegations from the US Senate over whether he benefited from the Iraq &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/11/06/39225.html ' target=_blank>oil-for-food programme run under Saddam Hussein.

A US Senate committee report published today claims to have uncovered "significant evidence" that the former Labour MP was allocated millions of barrels of oil from the Saddam regime. It bases its conclusions on previously disclosed documents from the Iraqi ministry of oil and interviews with senior officials of the regime, plus unnamed Iraqi sources, tells the Guardian Unlimited.

According to BBC News, the report by a Senate committe investigating the oil-for-food scandal says Saddam Hussein's regime was keen to gain allies with influence abroad.

It alleged that Baghdad had given Mr Pasqua the right to buy 11 million barrels of oil, while Mr Galloway had received some 20 million.