A British newspaper has lost a libel appeal against George Galloway over a story saying he had been "in the pay" of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
A court ruling in December 2004 ordered The Daily Telegraphto pay Galloway £150,000 (€218,200) for the accusation, which the politician had always denied.
Had the Telegraph succeeded in its appeal, Galloway would have faced a legal bill estimated at around £2 million (€2.9m).
The newspaper based its story on documents it said it found in the abandoned Iraqi Foreign Ministry building in Baghdad after the invasion to topple Saddam in 2003.
The report claimed Galloway had received £375,000 a year in payoffs from the Iraqi government.
"The Daily Telegraph did not at any stage seek to justify those defamatory statements as true," Sir Anthony Clarke said in dismissing the Telegraph's challenge on Wednesday.
"It defended the actions only on the basis of privilege and fair comment. The (original) judge rejected both defences.
"He was, in our judgement right to do so. It follows that the appeal on liability must be dismissed. We also dismiss the appeal on damages for the reasons given."
The Telegraph had argued it had privilege against libel, saying it was in the public interest to publish the documents.
It used the so-called "Reynolds" libel defence which says information about which there is no assertion of truth should nevertheless be published due to public interest.
The Telegraph also said it had appealed the ruling as it threatened press freedom.
Galloway, 51, was expelled from Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party in 2003 over his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war.
Two years later, standing for the leftist Respect party, he overturned a Labour majority of more than 10,000 to win the parliamentary seat of Bow and Bethnal Green in one of the most bitter campaigns of last May's election.
The flamboyant politician was unable to react to the court ruling on Wednesday as he is currently appearing in the reality television show "Celebrity Big Brother" which prevents him from having contact with anyone outside the show.