WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhuanet) -- British MP George Galloway, testifying before the US Congress on Tuesday, strongly denied charges by the US Congress that he received oil kickbacks from the Saddam Hussein regime.

    "I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil trader, and neither has anyone on my behalf," he said in remarks to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

    "I have never seen a barrel of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one, and neither has anybody on my behalf," Galloway said.

    The committee last week released documents and said it had "detailed evidence" that under the now-defunct oil-for-food program, Saddam Hussein gave Galloway the rights to export 20 million barrels of oil.

    The oil-for-food program allows Iraq to sell oil and use the money to buy essential supplies, but the United States has charged that the Saddam Hussein regime used the money for its own purposes.

    Meanwhile, Galloway, a strong opponent of the US-led Iraq war, also launched offensive against the Iraq war and said the war was based on "a pack of lies" and resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Enditem