A first draft of memoirs by the suspended Labour MP George Galloway has been stolen by burglars who broke into his holiday home in Portugal.

Mr Galloway, MP for Glasgow Kelvin, said he arrived at his remote £82,000 farmhouse in the Algarve on Friday evening to find his computer gone, along with his desk full of papers and his computer chair. He said it appeared to be no "ordinary crime".

Mr Galloway was suspended by the Labour party's general secretary in May, pending an internal inquiry into whether he had brought the party into disrepute by urging British troops not to fight in Iraq.

He said the burglars were "doomed to disappointment", since there was no interesting information on his computer apart from the draft of his memoirs, In the Wars, which publishers are expected to bid for this week. He had kept a back-up copy. The papers in his desk were research documents for the book, mostly press cuttings.

Mr Galloway, who planned to finish his memoirs this summer, said the isolated country cottage had been empty for six weeks. Portuguese police were investigating.

The MP said that following the publicity about his house over Easter, some opportunist had broken in trying to find something worthy of selling to the media. "I am not suggesting the security services, but the whole Iraq story is now turning so murky you don't know what to think."

He added: "The burglars wore gloves which is quite strange as there is not much burglary round here and what there is is drug-fuelled."

He said other items were stolen, but obvious valuables were left untouched and the burglars took precautions to secure the house and avoid another break-in after they had gone."They did the house up nice and proper before leaving."

He said: "Whoever did this will find nothing remotely of interest... unless they find the first draft of my memoirs interesting. They have avoided having to pay £19.99 for it when it comes out."