British MP George Galloway today won libel damages from The Daily Telegraphover "outrageous and incredibly damaging" allegations that he was in the pay of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The MP for Glasgow Kelvin smiled as Mr Justice Eady, who heard the case at London's High Court without a jury, gave his ruling that awarded the MP £150,000 sterling (€217,670) in damages.
The judge said he was "obliged to compensate Mr Galloway in respect of the publications and the aggravated features of the defendants' subsequent conduct, and to make an award for the purposes of restoring his reputation".
He added: "I do not think those purposes would be achieved by any award less than £150,000."
Mr Galloway's case centred on a series of articles published in April 2003 - following discovery of documents in Iraq by Telegraphreporter Mr David Blair - which Mr Galloway said "claimed that I had made very substantial secret profits from Saddam Hussein and his regime".
Telegraph Group Limited denied libel, claiming that it was responsible journalism and in the public interest for it to publish the contents of documents on which the story was based.