MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

LSE investigating if one of Gaddafi’s sons plagiarised his PhD thesis

Howard Davies, director of the LSE, embarrassed at accepting the donation.

The London School of Economics is investigating evidence that Colonel Gaddafi's son plagiarised his PhD thesis before it took a 2.4 million US dollars donation from his charitable foundation.

According to a report in The Times, the college said it was seeking information about two specific claims against Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and was aware of allegations he used a ghost-writer for his thesis.

The decision to open a formal investigation will be embarrassing for Lord Desai, a prominent Labour peer who examined Mr Gaddafi before the doctorate was awarded.

Researchers claim to have found at least a dozen examples of passages in Mr Gaddafi's 429-page thesis, which have been copied almost word for word without accreditation.

The LSE will use a computer program called Turnitin to check for examples of plagiarism but said there could be technical problems in examining Mr Gaddafi's work.

A college spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the allegations which are in the public domain about possible plagiarism in Saif Gaddafi's PhD thesis. We have also received direct allegations, and are seeking more specific information in a couple of cases. We are also carrying out our own checks.”

Professor David Held, director of the LSE's Centre for the Study of Global Governance, said he was aware of suggestions 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,” he said. “I wrote straight away to his supervisor but there was no substantial evidence.”

Lord Desai, an emeritus professor of economics at the LSE, said: “I read the thesis, I examined him with an examiner, he defended his thesis very, very thoroughly, he had nobody else present, and I don't think there's any reason to think he didn't do it himself.”

In his thesis Mr Gaddafi acknowledges the help of Professor Joseph Nye, an eminent economist at Harvard University, for reading portions of the manuscript and providing advice. He also credits Monitor Group, which employs Sir Mark Allen, a former MI6 agent and a senior adviser to BP, for providing the empirical data for his work.

Charlotte Gerada, general secretary of the LSE's Students' Union, said: “Concerns were widely raised at the time but nothing was done. The LSE must now act to maintain credibility.”

After graduating in 2008 Mr Gaddafi, 37, announced a 2.4 million USD gift for the Centre for the Study of Global Governance through his Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. The centre has received $480,000 of the donation and claims to have spent about half.

Howard Davies, director of the LSE, told The Times this week that he was embarrassed at accepting the donation. The college's ruling council will today set up a committee that is expected to include Howard, two academics and a student representative to decide what to do with the donation.

It is likely to recommend that the $240,000 spent is repaid and combined with the remaining money to provide scholarships for students from Libya.

The company that owns the Financial Times is seeking legal advice about freezing a 3 per cent stake held by Libya's sovereign wealth fund.

Pearson said that it needed to ascertain if the stake held by the Libyan Investment Authority, its fifth biggest shareholder, was covered by a government order freezing assets controlled by the Gaddafi family.