26 October 2006
Iraq's Oil Minister, Dr Hussain Al-Shahristani, has been awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa by Monash University.
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| From left: Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins, Dr Hussain Al-Shahristani and Chancellor Mr Jerry Ellis. |
Dr Al-Shahristani is a vigorous campaigner for disarmament, and for freeing the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction.
As an independent member of the United Iraqi Alliance, he served as the first Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly that drafted Iraq's permanent constitution. In May this year he was appointed Minister of Oil, and he is a key player in the national reconciliation program to avert a civil war in Iraq.
Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Larkins said the university was delighted to be able to award the honorary degree to such a brave and distinguished person. "Dr Al-Shahristani's occasional address at the graduation was inspiring to all who heard it," Professor Larkins said.
As a student, Dr Al-Shahristani won a scholarship to Imperial College in the University of London, where he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science and the Diploma of Imperial College. He then travelled to Canada to work at the research reactor at the University of Toronto, where he was awarded the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in nuclear chemistry.
In 1970 he joined the Nuclear Research Centre in Iraq and in 1978 he was appointed chief scientific adviser to the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission. In 1979 he denounced the nuclear aspirations and the human rights violations of the then President Saddam Hussein. He was arrested and tortured for weeks, and then imprisoned at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in solitary confinement for a decade.
He escaped during a night-time bombing raid during the 1991 Gulf War, and he and his family sought refuge in Iran. He and his wife immediately established a human rights organisation and, by 1995, they had set up the Iraqi Refugee Aid Council.
Later, Dr Al-Shahristani was invited to be a visiting professor at the University of Surrey in the UK, and in 2003 he was elected as the first Chairman of the Iraqi National Academy of Science at the Royal Society in London.
For more information contact Ms Robyn Anns, Media Communications, on +61 3 99059317 or 0417 568 781. Photographs are available.
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