LONDON UNIVERSITY'S ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS FROM DICTATORSHIPS

EDM number 1284 in 1994-95, proposed by George Galloway on 21/06/1995.

That this House condemns the decision by London University's School of Oriental and African Studies to accept ú1 million from the royal dictatorship of Saudi Arabia, and considers that these banknotes are stained with the blood of that regime's victims who have included latterly a blind 75 year old Professor of Islamic Jurisprudence; notes that 30 leading academic staff at the university have denounced the acceptance of the money which may compromise the world-renowned standards of excellence and academic independence of the SOAS; calls upon the university to reconsider the ludicrous proposition that the most un-Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whose rulers' hypocrisy, corruption, profligacy and gluttony have brought their country to its knees, has really given ú1 million without strings; and calls for the return of the funds which will, if retained, shame the university long after the House of Saud has followed the Peacock Dynasty of the Shah into the sands of history.

This motion has been signed by a total of 17 MPs.