Hopes raised for Iraqi research

By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff

Iraqi scientists want to revive research in the country

Iraqi scientists have taken a first step towards restoring a programme of research in the war-ravaged country.

A two-day meeting of Iraqis aims to establish a new scientific academy to attract talent back to the country as it builds back its infrastructure.

But questions remain over how the institute will be funded. It is backed by western organisations but has no investment from the private sector.

The meeting is taking place in London due to the security situation in Iraq.

The founder members of the academy are meeting at the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science.

The meeting has been organised by Dr Hussain Al-Shahristani, an Iraqi chemical engineer and visiting lecturer at the University of Surrey, who escaped Iraq in 1991.

"The Iraqi Academy of Science will be an autonomous, self-governing organisation of distinguished scientists dedicated to employing their talents for the advancement of science in Iraq," said Dr Al-Shahristani.

"Iraqi scientific research needs a reorientation from the kindergarten up to the highest university," said Ghazi Derwish, a retired professor of chemistry who worked at the University of Baghdad until 1992.

Election plans

The meeting will also seek to adopt a charter, and elect a standing committee to hold a meeting of the academy's council in Baghdad in 2004. It will also discuss the election of members of the academy, including a president.

The Iraqi academy has the backing of the Royal Society, the US National Academy of Sciences and the French Academie des Sciences, but currently has no private sector investment.

On the subject of funding, Dr Al-Shahristani said one of the main objectives of the academy would be to "draw attention to the depletion of research [in Iraq] and attract support from outside to revive and reconstruct [Iraqi science]."

He added that it would also plan how to secure funds inside Iraq.

Questions were also raised over the future of Iraqi scientists involved in weapons programmes under Saddam Hussein.

Weapons programmes

Under Saddam Hussein's regime, all scientific research had been directed into military programme. Dr Al-Shahristani said many, like him, had defected from the country, but others who remained there had been forced to work on weapons projects against their wishes.

But he stressed that the academy would be "extremely reluctant" to invite anyone to join the academy who had been involved in chemical or biological weapons programmes under the old regime.

One of the key objectives of the academy is to encourage Iraqi scientists working abroad to return to the country temporarily, if not permanently, to help reconstruct scientific research. There are estimated to be thousands of Iraqi-born researchers currently working abroad.

Dr Al-Shahristani added that boosting research in engineering would be a key focus for the academy, in order to reconstruct the country's shattered infrastructure.

Medicine would be another priority. It has been claimed that cancer rates have soared amongst the Iraqi population since 1991. Possible reasons range from the effects of war to chemical agents used by Saddam Hussein's regime.