THE INDEPENDENT: The man who helped to elicit a £1.5m donation from Saif al-Islam’s foundation tells his side of the story
A description of how Saif Gaddafi changed into a "frightened" man as the Libyan revolution approached is given today by his informal academic adviser from the London School of Economics.
Professor David Held, professor of political science at the LSE, is expected to face criticism – along with the university hierarchy – when the long-awaited inquiry into its links with the Libyan regime is published today.
In the first interview he has given about the saga – he spoke to reporters from the LSE's student newspaper, The Beaver – Professor Held acknowledges that he knew at the time that a £1.5m donation to the university from the Gaddafi charity would be "controversial". He says that, with hindsight, his behaviour could "give rise to a perception it was mistaken".
The professor also speaks of student Saif Gaddafi as a "young man who was struggling to make sense of the world, struggling to think about issues which obviously were not easy for him to think about".
He adds: "After four years or so, I found him to be much like an American liberal. He used to say there is nothing wrong with American democracy promotion in the Middle East – I'd be horrified by that statement – because Arabs should promote democracy themselves." » | Nicola Alexander, Alex Haigh, Richard Garner | Wednesday, November 30, 2011
