George Galloway claimed victory

British lawmaker &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/15476_oil.html ' target=_blank>George Galloway claimed victory over a U.S. Senate committee which accused him of profiting from the Iraq oil-for-food program in a triumphant speech to supporters on Wednesday.

The U.S. Senate committee had released documents it said showed Saddam gave Galloway the rights to export 20 million barrels of oil under the defunct humanitarian program.

Galloway defiantly rejected the evidence and condemned the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in an unusually robust performance before a Senate committee.

He returned to a hero's welcome from supporters at a rally in central London and appeared close to tears as he made his way through a scrum of photographers.

Galloway, who won a parliamentary seat in east London in May with his anti-Iraq war Respect party after being ejected from Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party in 2003, later cracked jokes about his appearance in Washington, tells Reuters.

According to NDTV, returning to London after a showdown with his accusers on &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/04/12/27594.html ' target=_blank>Capitol Hill, Galloway insisted he had "won the battle of public opinion".