[JURIST] The UK Daily Telegraph [media website] has said that it will drop any further appeals in its legal battle with British MP George Galloway [BBC profile]. In January, the Telegraph lost its appeal [JURIST report] when a British appeals court upheld a lower court order [opinion text] requiring the newspaper to pay damages and legal costs to Galloway. The court found that the paper had libeled Galloway by suggesting he took money from former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein through the now-defunct UN oil-for-food program [JURIST news archive].

After losing that appeal, the final option left to the Telegraph was to petition the UK House of Lords [official website] for an appeal, but in a brief statement issued on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the paper announced it would decline to do so. Galloway continues to deny that he received any personal financial benefit from the oil-for-food program. BBC News has more.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase…

• UK appeals court upholds oil-for-food libel judgment favoring MP
• US Senate subcommittee refers UK MP Galloway to DOJ for possible prosecution
• UK MP Galloway received 18 million barrels of Iraq oil allocations, UN report says
• British MP denies new US allegations in oil-for-food scandal
• Accused British MP questions US justice, denies oil-for-food allegations
• Senate probe accuses UK, French politicians of taking oil-for-food kickbacks