March 2
A prominent Indian academic in London has been caught in a controversy over alleged plagiarisation of a PhD thesis by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son.

Last Tuesday, it was revealed that Lord Meghnad Desai, an emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics, was one of the examiners of the 429-page thesis by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s titled: “The Role of Civil Society in the Democratisation of Global Governance Institutions: From Soft Power to Collective Decision Making.”

Analysis of the thesis reveals how parts of it have been reproduced either wholly or with minor alterations from books and material either published by individual authors or by international institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

When the issue of Gaddafi’s alleged plagiarisation was first brought to Desai’s notice, he commented, “I read the thesis and when I examined him (Gaddafi) along with another examiner, he defended his thesis very, very thoroughly. I don’t think there’s any reason to think he didn’t do it himself.”

Desai’s response contrasts with that of Professor David Held, director of LSE’s Centre for the Study of Global Governance. Held said he was aware of allegations that a ghost writer may have been used. “After he handed in the thesis, there was a rumour that he may not have been the sole author”, Held commented. “I wrote straight away to his supervisor but there was no substantial evidence.”

In yesterday’s London Times, Desai rejects suggestions that he will be embarrassed by any forthcoming inquiry into Gaddafi’s doctorate. “I was appointed along with Professor Tony McGrew of the University of Southampton as external examiner by the University of London ”, Desai writes. “According to university’s rules, one examiner has to be from within the institution, someone who has not been the supervisor, and another from outside. As I did not supervise or involve myself with his studies before his submission, I accepted the task,” he said.

“We read the thesis and examined Mr Gaddafi orally for two-and-a-half hours. We then reported that the thesis needed revisions and corrections, which the candidate was invited to submit. When he did so we read the thesis again and decided that the degree should be awarded. These documents are available in the university’s files. At no stage did the supervisors or anyone else suggest to us that plagiarism was suspected and we found no reason to do so ourselves,” Desai added.

To add more to LSE’s embarrassment, there is an additional revelation that following his graduation Gaddafi pledged the university a £1.5-million donation through his Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. The LSE has now set up a committee to decide what to do with the £300,000 it has so far received from the donation.

While he was at LSE and based at his £10 million luxury home in the London suburb of Hampstead, Gaddafi was projected as a western educated moderate committed to democratic reforms in his own country. That carefully cultivated image was shattered two weeks ago when he warned how “rivers of blood will flow” if anti- government protests continued in Libya.

Responding to disclosures about Gaddafi junior’s financial dealings with the LSE, British author Tom Bower commented in a letter published in the British media: “Saif al-Islam’s financial relationship with the LSE is jot an aberration but symbolic of the school’s self-abasement, which accelerated after 1997. Throughout the Balirite era, the school increasingly targeted potential Third World students willing to pay £25,000 and more for a three-year degree course. Money has become an increasingly important criterion for admission rather than intellectual excellence.” As ordinary Libyans continue to shout for their freedom, many other current and former members of the UK establishment have been named and shamed for their connections to the Gaddafi regime.