A LABOUR MP was given a public apology and ''substantial'' undisclosed
libel damages yesterday following a ''vitriolic'' newspaper attack.
The Daily Mirror and its sister paper in Scotland, the Daily Record,
accused Mr George Galloway of making disgraceful allegations about staff
at the newspaper group under the protection of parliamentary privilege.
The High Court in London heard that, in October last year, Mr
Galloway, MP for Glasgow Hillhead, tabled a motion in the Commons
inviting the House to reflect concern at allegations in the book The
Samson Option.
The book claimed the Daily Mirror's then foreign editor Nick Davies
had been involved in arms dealing, and told of the betrayal of the
whereabouts of alleged spy Mordechai Vanunu to the Israeli authorities.
Mr Galloway's motion called on the late Robert Maxwell, Mirror Group
publisher at the time, to appoint an independent tribunal to investigate
the allegations.
Mirror Group's response was to publish a vitriolic attack on Mr
Galloway on the front page of the Daily Mirror and page 2 of the Daily
Record, said the MP's counsel, Mr Tom Shields.
Under a photograph of Mr Galloway and another MP captioned
''Dishonourable men and dirty tricks,'' a Mirror editorial accused Mr
Galloway of making disgraceful allegations against Mr Davies without a
shred of evidence, and of exploiting and abusing parliamentary
privilege.
The editorial also alleged that Mr Galloway was motivated by links
with an Arab terrorist organisation which would do anything to blacken
those it believed to be the friends of Israel.
A similar attack was published in the Daily Record, Mr Shields told Mr
Justice Waterhouse.
The newspapers now recognised that Mr Galloway did not behave
dishonourably and was not actuated by any ulterior or improper motive.
''For his part, Mr Galloway accepts that staff at Mirror Group did not
betray Mr Vanunu and had no involvement in his abduction,'' said Mr
Shields, announcing settlement of his libel action.
After yesterday's brief court hearing, Mr Galloway said: ''Robert
Maxwell was a thief and a tyrant and one of the worst criminals of the
century.
''Those of us who opposed him over many years were subjected to
vituperative and remorseless attack by those he hired to do his bidding.
''The hearing today marks the end of a very long, vindictive campaign.
. . and I feel completely vindicated.''
