Malevolent British MP George Galloway is praising Fidel Castro as a ‘lion of world politics.’

HAVANA - An outspoken British lawmaker appeared on Cuban television praising Fidel Castro as a “lion” of world politics and defending the Cuban leader against a magazine report naming him one of the world’s wealthiest rulers.

George Galloway, on an unannounced visit to Havana, showered Castro with praise in his Wednesday night appearance on the communist government’s daily public-affairs program “Mesa Redonda,” or “Round Table.”

“No responsible person in the world believes that Fidel Castro has a personal fortune of $900 million,” Galloway said, referring to the wealth Forbes magazine attributed to Castro. …

In its May 5 “Fortunes Of Kings, Queens And Dictators” article, Forbes put Castro seventh in a list of 10 world leaders with “lofty positions and vast fortunes.” Forbes said it assumed Castro has economic control over a network of state-owned companies, including El Palacio de Convenciones, a convention center near Havana; the retail conglomerate Cimex; and Medicuba, which sells vaccines and other pharmaceuticals produced in Cuba. The article also referred to rumors of Castro having “large stashes in Swiss bank accounts.”

Castro has called the report “rubbish” and said he’ll resign the day critics prove he has money in foreign accounts. Castro sat in on Wednesday night’s “Round Table,” which lasted seven hours. He again defended himself, in what’s becoming a full-fledged government campaign to discredit the report.

“The Cubans are the only people in the entire world who have a leader who can say that he doesn’t possess one dollar to his name,” Galloway said.

Galloway’s also in the news for saying it would be “morally justified” for a suicide bomber to murder Tony Blair: Galloway says murder of Blair would be ‘justified’.

The Respect MP George Galloway has said it would be morally justified for a suicide bomber to murder Tony Blair.

In an interview with GQ magazine, the reporter asked him: “Would the assassination of, say, Tony Blair by a suicide bomber - if there were no other casualties - be justified as revenge for the war on Iraq?”

Mr Galloway replied: “Yes, it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it - but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable. And morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq - as Blair did.”