Russian charge angers LSE

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, FEB. 21.A wave of anger and embarrassment swept through the London School of Economics (LSE), one of Britain's most prestigious academic institutions, after the Russian Government alleged on Monday that it was being used as a recruiting ground by Islamic terrorist groups in Chechnya and demanded that the British Government crack down on them under the new stringent anti-terrorism law.

The LSE described the allegation as `astounding' and lacking in evidence, and the students' union insisted that there was no truth in it. An LSE spokesperson said: ``It is astounding to hear of these allegations and we'd like to see evidence if there is any. We have 7,000 students from more than 130 countries worldwide and from many different political and religious backgrounds. We want to hear what exactly the allegations are about.''

The general secretary of the LSE students' union, Mr. Lee Federman, said the students on the campus were closely `monitored' and there was absolutely no evidence of the activities of any terrorist group. ``I have been working with students very closely and I can say that the charge seems to have no basis. This has come completely out of the blue,'' Mr. Federman said ruling out the need for an inquiry. He was convinced that there was no fire behind the smoke.

There was no word from the Government as it had its first taste of the kind of pressures it might face from governments across the world to invoke the new terrorism law against groups and organisations which they perceive to be hostile to them. The allegation against the LSE was made by the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Mr. Sergei Yastrzhembsky, a day after the new law came into force. He said that ``recruitment of mercenaries is being carried out in places like the London School of Economics where mostly nationals of African and Asian countries are studying''. Later, an aide to him reportedly clarified that Moscow was not accusing the LSE but ``simply identifying a place where recruitment occurs''.

Mr. Yastrzhembsky earlier said Moscow had repeatedly drawn the British Government's attention to the existence of groups which were collecting funds for Chechen separatists. The Russian Government, he told a Moscow newspaper, would give a list of terrorist organisations to the British government seeking a ban on them. ``Clearly Britain has adopted this (anti-terrorism) law for its own national interests but we are sure that in this area British interests will coincide with Russian,'' he said.

Observers pointed out that while university campuses in Britain were known to have been used by extremist groups to recruit volunteers, this was the first time that a finger had been pointed at a prestigious institution such as the LSE. None of the leading universities or centres of excellence had ever been known to be involved in this sort of activities, and the only case was of Ahmad Omar Sayyed Sheikh, a former LSE student, who joined the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul Ansar group and was jailed in India for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of British tourists.

Another view was that with the proliferation of religious fundamentalist groups in recent years their catchment area had also expanded and they were fishing for volunteers up and down the country. The LSE with its diverse student community could be seen by some groups as a potential hunting ground, even if they did not succeed in signing up anyone.

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