LSE–Gaddafi affair

The LSE Libya Links affair is the name given to a scandal linking the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to the Libyan government and its leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and his family, allegedly involving favoritism, influence-peddling and nepotism. According to allegations in British and international media in February and March, 2011, the Libyan government made donations of £1.5 million to the LSE in return for favorable treatment by academics and a PhD to Gadaffi's son, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi. In connection with the civil uprising in Libya, the LSE's connection to the Gaddafi regime came increasingly to be questioned. The Spectator stated in March 2011 that "LSE's hierarchy sold itself to a tyrant for a handful of silver." As a result of the revelations, the LSE's Director, Sir Howard Davies, resigned on March 3, 2011, citing "errors of judgement."

Gaddafi donates money to LSE's Global Civil Society Program

Shortly after Saif al-Gaddafi received his PhD, LSE accepted a donation of 1.5 million pounds from the Gaddafi family. The donation was made through the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) A member of GICDF's board is Jose de Venecia a notorious crony of the late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos as was documented in Jose Ricardo L. Manapat's book "Some Are Smarter Than Others: The History of Marcos' Crony Capitalism". De Venecia has also been deeply involved in both the Philippines and in the Middle East construction and oil industry and has a close personal relationship with the Gaddafi family.

Several newspapers reported that Alia Brahimi, a research fellow at Global Governance, "a leading research centre dedicated to research, analysis and dissemination about global governance" at the London School of Economics, was working for a research program funded through the Gaddafi donation. Brahimi met Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi in Greece and Libya on several occasions, according to newspaper reports, to ask Gaddafi how to spend his donation.

The School's statement of 21 February made clear that School engagement with the present Libyan authorities, covering a number of programmes, has already finished or has been stopped following the events of the weekend of 19-20 February." The university said no more of the £1.5m donation from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation would be accepted. It said about half of the £300,000 already accepted had been spent and its council would now consider what to do with the remaining funds, taking into account the views of LSE students. The LSE's review of its links with Libya follows a speech made by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi on Sunday, in which he said the regime in Libya would stand firm. He warned of civil war, talked of "rivers of blood" and rejected foreign intervention.

Saif al-Gaddafi's "Special Ralph Miliband Lecture"

On May 25, 2010, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi addressed the LSE in a "Special Miliband Lecture," named after Ralph Miliband, a Marxist scholar and former LSE lecturer. The son of the Libyan leader was introduced as "Chairman of the Gaddafi International Foundation For Charity and Development based in Tripolo," and he spoke on the topic of "Libya: Past, Present, and Future." In introducing the speaker, professor David Held told the audience that "I have come to know him very well and I must say I have come to like him a great deal." He continued:

Saif is committed to resolving contentious international and domestic issues through dialogue, debate and peaceful negotiations. ... Within his own country Saif has spearheaded efforts to open with Islamic militants about the nature and form of their struggle in order to find ways of bringing them back into the political process. ... His success was based on the use of the language of "soft power," that is, the language of dialogue. ... Throughout this time I've come to know Saif as someone who looks to democracy, civil society and deep liberal values for the core of his inspiration."

The night of the lecture, a fight broke out between anti-Libyan protesters and pro-Gaddaffi supports. The police were called in to break up the altercation.

Saif al-Gaddafi's "rivers of blood" speech

In the context of the civil uprising in Libya, Saif al-Gaddafi delivered an address to the nation on Libyan state television on February 20, 2011, stating that if no agreement could be found between protesters and the government "thousands of deaths, and rivers of blood will run through Libya". Saif al-Gaddafi further stated that his father remained in charge with the army's backing and would "fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet." As the BBC reported: "the contrast to his appearance as a guest speaker at the London School of Economics (LSE) two years ago could not have been more stark."

On February 28, 2011, CBS News aired a video showing Saif al-Gaddafi standing on top of a car to address a group of supporters. Holding a Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle up in the air, Saif al-Gaddafi tells the crowd that 'weapons are on the way' A day earlier, Saif al-Gaddafi had told Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview at ABCNews that the Libyan government "didn't use force [to stay in power]" and asked her to show him "a single attack, a single bomb, a single casualty".

LSE trains "Libya's future elite"

The Times reported on March 3, 2011 that the LSE had secured a £1 million deal to train hundreds of members of the dictatorship's future elite. The University agreed to bring 400 "future leaders" from Libya for training in leadership and management, with an additional 250 of the elite due to be trained in Libya. The private commercial arrangement was made by Saif al-Gaddafi.

On December 2, 2010, in a satellite conference hosted by the LSE, Alia Brahimi introduced Muammar al-Gaddafi as "Brother Leader." and referred to him as "the world's longest serving national leader" who is "most welcome" at the London School of Economics.

Howard Davies resigns

LSE Director Howard Davies resigned on March 3 over the revelations. In a comment Davies said he had left the job because of "two errors of judgment": 1) his advice that a donation from Saif Gaddafi's foundation was acceptable, and 2) his decision to act as an economic envoy to Libya. In a statement the LSE's Board of Governors accepted Howard's resignation with "great regret."

Other LSE reactions

Student Protests

Several protest actions were undertaken by LSE students in response to the revelations, including sit-ins and demonstrations. The students have insisted that the LSE repay the money given by Gaddafi's foundation and revoke Saif al-Gaddafi's status as LSE alumnus. According to Ashok Kumar, an officer the LSE students' union, "It's reprehensible that the university continues to benefit from money that was stolen from the Libyan people and it's only right to return it to the people who are now being murdered in the streets fighting for their freedom." Students and alumni had also set up an online petition, urging the LSE to revoke the alumni status of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and to cease all cooperation with the Libyan regime. Parts of the petition read

"In light of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Libya, the country's 42-year dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, deployed his troops and foreign mercenaries in a brutal crackdown on anti-dictatorship protesters. This has resulted in the killing of at least 233 people in Benghazi alone as of Sunday, according to Human Rights Watch. We were shocked to find out that the LSE has accepted a £1.5 million donation from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF); an NGO headed by Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

The regime of Muammar Gaddafi has a record that is known to all, and his son - Saif - has always been an integral part of the regime. We are astonished that the donation was accepted in the first place. We are even more astonished by the LSE press release which stated that “[i]t is a generous donation from an NGO committed to the promotion of civil society and the development of democracy". This is clearly a laughable statement."

Faculty reactions

Professor Meghnad Desai, who set up the Centre for Global Governance, defended the LSE's behavior, arguing in a New York Times interview that "Academic research needs money — Rockefeller was a robber baron once, but we take his money". Baron Desai also said in a Guardian interview on March 4, 2011: "It was only after bullets started flying in Libya that Saif Gaddafi was found to have cheated. Nor had anyone until then objected that the LSE had received a donation from Saif Gaddafi's Foundation." The late LSE Professor, Fred Halliday, is on record as having been opposed to accepting the Libyan donations. In a statement to the Guardian, Fred Halliday's wife and other colleagues claim he was also opposed to accepting Saif Gaddafi as a student.

Professor David Held issued a statement saying that "in many discussions and meetings I encouraged the development of [Gaddafi's] reform agenda and subsequently sought to support it through research on the North Africa Programme funded by the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation" at the LSE.

Dr Alia Brahimi stated in a TV interview with Al-Jazeera on February 24, 2011 that "We were all tremendously surprised by the statements made by Saif el-Islam [Gaddafi in his 'rivers of blood speech]. " During the same interview, which featured her as a specialist on the Middle East without revealing her involvment in a Gaddafi-sponsored research program at the LSE, Brahimi said that Saif had been a reformer for many years but now "seemed to be backpeddling". Brahimi was quoted in the Daily Mail on March 2, 2011: "I’ve got nothing to apologise for. Saif told me he was keen that democratic reform should happen soon in Libya".

LSE issues official statement and "cleans up" university websites

The School announced on March 3, 2011, that they had set up an independent external inquiry into LSE's relationship with the Libyan regime and Saif al-Gaddafi, to be conducted by the former lord chief justice Harry Woolf. The Financial Times reported on March 3, 2011, that the LSE had started to edit official university websites an an attempt to "remove references to Libyan links from its academics’ workplace biographies".

External links

• London School of Economics and Political Science, official web site.
• Monitor Group, official web site.
• Gaddafi International Foundation For Charity and Development, official web site.