Beirut: ‘Laundering’ Hub for Fake Iraqi University Degrees

Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)
Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)
TT

Beirut: ‘Laundering’ Hub for Fake Iraqi University Degrees

Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)
Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)

On Dec. 27, Lebanese security forces arrested a prominent official at the Ministry of Education to investigate suspicions of corruption in equating the certificates of Iraqi students. Around 20 days later, Amal Shaaban, head of the ministry’s Equivalency Department, was released, only to be informed of her dismissal based on a decision signed by Minister of Education Abbas Al-Halabi.

Iraqi sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Shaaban’s dismissal came “in response to pressure exerted by Lebanese and Iraqi parties that threatened several times to stop the aid they provide to the ministry and public schools.”

The incident revealed why Iraqis were clamoring to study at Lebanese universities, sparking a debate about whether Shaaban was a “scapegoat” used to put an end to illicit dealings between influential powers in Baghdad and Beirut.

Suspicions in the case arose at two instances: The first relates to accepting forged high school certificates issued in Baghdad and validated in Beirut, and the other pertains to granting of university and higher education certificates without students attending classes, in exchange for sums of money.

The story began in Iraq, when Shiite parties that assumed power after 2003 discovered that they did not have administrative teams qualified enough to hold advanced government positions.

Iraq’s interests coincided with interests of influential forces in Lebanon that were trying to maximize educational resources as part of an agreement between the two countries that allowed the delivery of oil in exchange for medical and educational services. Thus, Iraqi students poured into Lebanon, which opened more branches of Lebanese universities, and established others specifically for this purpose, while a network of Iraqi brokers arose in Beirut to handle the illegal paperwork.

In Beirut, Amal Shaaban is trying to prove that the decision to dismiss her from her position is illegal, while it is difficult to confirm her innocence or involvement in this file that has lingered for years.

A source close to Shaaban’s legal team explained that she is not seeking to return to her job, “but all she wants is to show that the Minister of Education’s decision is illegal, and then she will submit her resignation from the post.”

A legal source informed of the investigations expected that a decision by the investigating judge will reveal “dozens of forged Iraqi certificates that passed through the Ministry of Education under the influence of political pressure.”

According to the source, the investigations will not be limited to the Ministry of Education, but will include a number of universities where Iraqi students were enrolled before the high school certificates they obtained in their country were equated. Many of those certificates were forged.

The source pointed to a university close to the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, which attracted the largest number of Iraqi students and granted them - within a period of two years - certificates in graduate studies and doctorates that exceeded the total amount of certificates issued across the country in that period of time, raising suspicions.

Moreover, the majority of Iraqis, who applied for the equivalency of certificates and enrollment in Lebanese universities, are employees of Iraqi state institutions. They submitted requests for the equivalency without coming to Lebanon in exchange for huge sums of money, as these certificates allowed them to be promoted in their jobs and benefit from a significant increase in their salaries.

On the other hand, Iraqi sources informed of the investigations say that Beirut has turned into a hub for “laundering degrees,” even for ordinary youths who are not affiliated with political parties.

Simultaneously, a network of Iraqi brokers emerged in Beirut to facilitate “the paperwork.” Some of them enjoy political cover from the pro-Iran Shiite Coordination Framework parties in Iraq and work in Lebanon.

A reliable source from the Iraqi Ministry of Education said their mission was to pass on false secondary school certificates brought by Iraqi students to have them equalized in Beirut in preparation for their admission to Iraqi universities.

The source added that Iraqi authorities have always failed to track down the secondary certificates that have been equated in Lebanon, and the authenticity of most of them is difficult to verify.

According to the testimony of the former Iraqi official, the Iraqi brokers developed a wide network of connections in Beirut extending from “Iraqi embassy employees to leaders in the Amal Movement, and junior officials in the Ministry of Education.”

In July 2021, Iraq signed an agreement with Lebanon to sell one million tons of heavy fuel oil at the global price, with payment being in services and goods.

Four months later, the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education summoned its cultural attaché in Beirut as part of an investigation into the issue of private Lebanese universities granting fake certificates in exchange for money to hundreds of Iraqis, including representatives and officials, a move that prompted the Lebanese Ministry of Education to open its own investigation.

According to AFP, Iraqi students were enrolled at 14 universities in Lebanon, but the number of students at the Modern University of Management and Science, the Islamic University of Lebanon, and Jinan University alone reached 6,000 out of a total of 13,800 Iraqi students.

The Iraqi investigation ended with a halt to dealing with the three universities, according to an Iraqi statement issued on November 11, 2021.

With the formation of the government of Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani at the end of 2022, Iraqi Shiite parties retreated from the university degree market in Lebanon, and the Ministry of Higher Education, led by Naeem Al-Aboudi, encouraged Iraqi students to study in Iraqi private universities, even as he himself holds a degree from the Islamic University of Beirut.



Harris Tries to Thread the Needle on Gaza After Meeting with Netanyahu 

US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Harris Tries to Thread the Needle on Gaza After Meeting with Netanyahu 

US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, is attempting to bridge divides within the party over the war in Gaza, emphasizing Israel's right to defend itself while also focusing on alleviating Palestinian suffering.

She delivered remarks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that reflected a delicate balancing act on one of the country's most divisive political issues. Some Democrats have been critical of President Joe Biden's steadfast support for Israel despite the increasing death toll among Palestinians, and Harris is trying to unite her party for the election battle with Republican candidate Donald Trump.

"We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies," she said. "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent."

Harris did not deviate from the administration's approach to the conflict, including grueling negotiations aimed at ending the fighting, releasing hostages held by Hamas and eventually rebuilding Gaza. She also said nothing about military assistance for Israel, which some Democrats want to cut.

Instead, she tried to refocus the conversation around mitigating the calamity in Gaza, and she used language intended to nudge Americans toward an elusive middle ground.

"The war in Gaza is not a binary issue," she said. "But too often, the conversation is binary when the reality is anything but."

In addition, Harris made a more explicit appeal to voters who have been frustrated by the ceaseless bloodshed, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

"To everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you," she said.

Harris' meeting with Netanyahu was private, and she described it as "frank and constructive." She also emphasized her longtime support for Israel, which includes raising money to plant trees in the country when she was a young girl.

Jewish Americans traditionally lean Democratic, but Republicans have tried to make inroads. Trump claimed this week that Harris "is totally against the Jewish people" because she didn't attend Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of Congress. The vice president was traveling in Indiana during the speech.

Harris is married to a Jewish man, Doug Emhoff, who has played an outspoken role in the administration's efforts to combat antisemitism.

Netanyahu did not speak publicly after his meeting with Harris. His trip was scheduled before Biden dropped his reelection bid, but the meeting with Harris was watched closely for clues to her views on Israel.

"She is in a tricky situation and walking a tightrope where she’s still the vice president and the president really is the one who leads on the foreign policy agenda," said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat whose city is home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the nation. "But as the candidate, the presumptive nominee, she has to now create the space to differentiate in order for her to chart a new course."

Protesters gathered outside Union Station on the day of Netanyahu's speech, ripping down American flags and spray painting "Hamas is coming."

Harris sharply criticized those actions, saying there were "despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric. "

"I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation," she said in a statement.

As vice president, Harris has tried to show little daylight between herself and Biden. But David Rothkopf, a foreign policy writer who has met with her, said there's been "a noticeable difference in tone, particularly in regards to concern for the plight of innocent Palestinians."

The difference was on display in Selma, Alabama, in March, when Harris commemorated the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights in 1965.

During her speech, Harris said that "given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire."

The audience broke out in applause. A few sentences later, Harris emphasized that it was up to Hamas to accept the deal that had been offered. But her demand for a ceasefire still resonated in ways that Biden's comments had not.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in June found that about 6 in 10 Democrats disapproved of the way Biden is handling the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Roughly the same number said Israel's military response in Gaza had gone too far.

Israeli analysts said they doubted that Harris would present a dramatic shift in policies toward their country.

Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said Harris was from a generation of American politicians who felt they could both support Israel and publicly criticize its policies.

"The question is as president, what would she do?" Freilich said. "I think she would put considerably more pressure on Israel on the Palestinian issue overall."