On 4 October 2009 , Fred Halliday , Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the LSE and the School 's leading expert on the Middle East , wrote a memorandum to the LSE Council regarding the proposed cooperation with the Gaddafi Foundation . " I have repeatedly expressed reservations about formal educational and funding links with that country . " While those in favour of accepting the donation argued that " Libya is changing internally , " most informed observers agree that while some of the worst excesses for the moment have ceased , the rights of its people are badly protected . Libya " remains a country run by a secretive , erratic and corrupt elite . " Since 9/11 the Libyan government has reached compromises with the West on a number of issues , notably the Lockerbie bombing and nuclear weapons . Yet tactical changes in foreign policy are not sufficient for the purposes of evaluating political and academic links . There are also ways in which Libyan foreign policy has '' not '' changed : the country continues to call for the destruction of Israel ; Muammar Gaddafi recently called for the abolition of Switzerland , and he receives the leader of the Somali pirates operating off the Horn of Africa as honoured guests of state . Moreover , Libya 's handling of the Lockerbie bombing " has not been characterised by either consistency or clarity , " I have in the past , Halliday noted , defended accepting grants from authoritarian regimes such as the Gulf states , " but there should be clear limits on this , depending on the degree of political and human rights abuses perpetrated with them and on their ongoing foreign policy conduct . " Whitehall and the City are now happy to do business with Libya , but it does not follow that the LSE should do the same . Responsible leaders throughout the Middle East continue to express reservations regarding Libya , including " its more prominent ' liberal ' representatives . " We must remember , Halliday concluded , that the " liberal " wing within a regime such as Libya does not have the function of producing change but its role is instead " to reach compromises with internal hard-liners that serve to lessen external pressure . " A good case in point are the proposals LSE now is considering . It is , as LSE alumni in positions of responsibility in the region caution , " far too early for the School to take this step . " In 2009 , Human Rights Watch was allowed entry to Libya , via Saif al-Islam Gaddafi 's non-profit organization in order to gather facts about the human rights situation there . While HRW reported that there were concerns about the " repressive atmosphere , " they felt there were signs of " improvement " and Sarah Leah Whitson , director of HRW 's Middle East division said that one should not " underestimate the importance of the efforts made so far " by Gaddafi in the realm of human rights in Libya . She also wrote of her official visit that " the real impetus for the transformation rests squarely with a quasi-governmental organization , the Qaddafi Foundation for International Charities and Development " chaired by Gaddafi . She praised Gaddafi for establishing the country 's two semi-private newspapers , and said " it is impossible to underestimate the importance of the efforts made so far . Let 's hope this spring will last . " In January 2011 , HRW criticised other organisations as well as governments that had previously dealt with Gaddafi . HRW Business and Human Rights Director Arvind Ganesan condemned the London School of Economics ( LSE ) for allowing " abusive and corrupt officials or their families to launder their images in exchange for money " . This was later followed by Ganesen saying that " the London School of Economics did not act until Saif al-Islam 's father literally began to kill his own people " . According to NGO Monitor , this was despite the fact that David Held , Co-Director of LSE Global Governance , was partially influenced by Whitson 's remarks regarding her Libyan visit , referring to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi as a reformer
the Lockerbie bombing
Pan Am Flight 103
London School of Economics Gaddafi links