British MP Galloway says 'blew away' U.S. committee

LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmaker 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.

"We blew them away," an emotional Galloway told a rally in London after giving evidence to the panel examining how former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein used oil to reward politicians.

"From the emails and feedback we've had from all over the world it is true undoubtedly that there was a worldwide audience out there waiting for someone to speak the truth to power," he added.

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.

"I did a bit of sanction busting," he said, brandishing a cigar. "I smoked a Havana cigar just like this one. I smoked it inside the Capitol building, I even blew the smoke at the White House."

Looking relaxed in a black suit and shirt, Galloway's performance was in stark contrast to his highly-charged evidence session in Washington on Tuesday.

In a series of sharp exchanges, he confronted the Republican chairman of the committee, Senator Norm Coleman, and challenged him to back up claims he profited from the now defunct program.

Galloway went on to attack Coleman's support for the invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam. Coleman later said he did not think Galloway was "a credible witness." The U.N. oil-for-food program, which began in late 1996 and ended in 2003, was aimed at easing the impact of sanctions imposed after Saddam's troops invaded Kuwait in 1990.



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British MP Galloway says 'blew away' U.S. committee