Thaindian News

London, Mar 7 (ANI): Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said it was ‘horific’ to see that a London School of Economics lecture in the name of his father was delivered by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif.

The Ralph Miliband memorial lecture was given by Saif Gaddafi last May.

On being asked his opinion about the speech given by Saif, Miliband said: “It’s horrific. The Ralph Miliband Programme at the LSE was founded by a former student of my dad’s in the 1950s who said he’d learnt more about the Right in the seminars of my dad - who was obviously on the Left - because my dad believed in showing all sides of opinion.”

“The idea of Saif Gaddafi giving a lecture under his name is just horrific to him and horrific to the whole family obviously,” the Daily Mail quoted the British MP, as saying.

Miliband comments have come following the resignation of LSE director Sir Howard Davies over the university’s embarrassing links with the Libyan dictatorship.

On Sunday, Saif slammed former LSE friends as ‘cowards turning on us’. Saif faces being stripped of his PhD degree over claims that it was plagiarised and written by paid consultants.

Professor Abubakr Buera of Benghazi’s Garyounis University had earlier claimed that a Libyan academic who had helped Saif to draft his dissertation was later rewarded with an ambassador’s posting to Europe.

“I learnt that Saif gathered some PhD holders from Garyounis University in Benghazi, Libya, to help him write his doctoral dissertation. Among the people he consulted was a professor of economics who was a graduate from Germany,” he said.

“His name is Dr Menesi; what gives credibility to this allegation is that Dr Menesi, who was then retired, was brought back to active service as a government bank chairman in Libya, then governor to the Central Bank in Libya, then minister of finance, and finally Libya’s ambassador to Austria,” Professor Buera added. (ANI)