BRITAIN: The British Labour MP accused of taking bribes from Saddam Hussein has urged the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, to investigate documents at the centre of the claims.
Mr George Galloway, who was suspended from the Labour Party after the allegations emerged, said he was the victim of a conspiracy.
The Wall Street Journal has apologised for accusing him of taking money from the deposed regime and said it accepted that the documents on which it had based its accusations were forged.
Mr Galloway rejected the apology - and another from the Christian Science Monitor - and pledged to continue his legal action against both.
In a statement, he said: "I want to know who forged these documents. I am calling on the Prime Minister, as head of the co-occupying power in Iraq, to investigate how this conspiracy came about.
"As a member of the House of Commons, indeed as a British subject, I have the right to the protection of the British intelligence services from a conspiracy hatched by persons unknown but whose handiwork was conducted in foreign territory co-occupied by Great Britain."
The Daily Telegraph, which also claimed Mr Galloway took money from the Iraqi regime, said yesterday it was standing by its reports. - (PA)