Mariam Appeal

The intention was to raise awareness of the suffering and death of tens of thousands of other Iraqi children due to poor health conditions and lack of suitable medicines and facilities, and to campaign for the lifting of the sanctions seen by many as a direct cause of those problems.

The fund received scrutiny during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, after a complaint to the office of the Attorney General for England and Wales that Galloway used some of the donation money to pay his travel expenses.

Examination of the Appeal's bank accounts revealed the major funders to be the United Arab Emirates, a donor from Saudi Arabia and the Jordanian businessman Fawaz Zureikat (later alleged to be implicated in the Oil-for-Food Programme scandal).

A further Charity Commission Report published on 7 June 2007 found that the Appeal had received funds from Fawaz Zureikat that originated from the Oil For Food programme.

[5] At a press conference following publication of the report, Galloway stated "To be deprived of the company for 18 days of the honourable ladies and gentleman behind me [in parliament] will be painful ... but I'm intending to struggle on regardless ... What really upset them [the committee] is that I always defend myself.

[6] It was claimed in June 2017, after a request under the Freedom of Information Act by The Times newspaper that Galloway's then wife Dr. Amineh Abu-Zayyad had received £84,000 in salary and expenses from the appeal after being appointed as its medical and scientific officer without any appropriate process and without a contract of employment.