George Galloway used his appearance before a Senate committee yesterday to tear into the legality of the war in Iraq and vehemently defend himself against charges that he received oil vouchers from Saddam Hussein's regime.

The Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow told senators that the allegations were a "smokescreen" aimed at obscuring his criticism of the Iraqi invasion.

"I am not now nor have I ever been an oil trader, and neither has anyone on my behalf," he said in testimony under oath before the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations.

"If you had any letters on me they would have been up there on a slide-show."

Galloway, who was relishing his time in the spotlight, then launched a tirade against America's Iraq policy.

"I told the world that your case for the war was a pack of lies," he said.

"In everything I said about Iraq I turned out to be right, and you turned out to be wrong, and 100,000 people have paid with their lives, 1,600 of them US soldiers.

"You are trying to divert attention from the crimes you supported."

After the hearing, Galloway told reporters: "I'm a politician that pleads guilty of using events like these for political purposes."