THE region’s leading university has accepted a £2.5m donation from a Kuwaiti sheik forced to quit as the country’s Prime Minister amid corruption allegations.

Sheik Nasser Al-Muhammad Al-Sabah, a member of Kuwait’s royal family, gave Durham University the money from his personal fortune to fund research into international security, launching the programme during a visit to Durham earlier this month.

The sheik resigned as Prime Minister last November, amid questions about the alleged payment of bribes to progovernment MPs. Hundreds of young Kuwaitis took to the streets to demand his exit, with liberal, Islamist and nationalist groups all calling for him to quit.

The news of his visit to Durham emerged as Kuwait’s highest court rejected a government appeal aimed at changing the oil-rich Gulf emirate’s electoral boundaries.

Opposition MPs have called for the government to resign.

The sheik’s £2.5m donation has enabled the creation of the Nasser Al-Muhammad Al- Sabah Programme in International Relations, Regional Politics and Security, which the university says will promote research underpinning a greater understanding of Middle Eastern societies and cultural understanding between Kuwait and the UK.

The programme has enraged some academics. When it was first discussed last year, a group of unidentified university staff, calling themselves Concerned Academics, spoke out in protest, calling the sheik an autocratic, unelected premier.

However, Professor Chris Higgins, Durham University’s vice-chancellor, said: “Durham University is extremely grateful for the generous support we have received from His Highness Sheik Nasser for its students, education, intercultural activities and research.”

Professor Anoush Ehteshami, the programme director, said: “This research programme will have a dynamic and lasting effect on decisionmaking with respect to governance and the security of nations worldwide.”

The programme was launched with a symposium on Asianisation of the Middle East, held in Durham Castle’s Great Hall.

The sheik first visited Durham in 1984, to discuss petrol. His son, Sabah, is a former Durham University student.

Last year, Durham University was accused of taking “blood money” after accepting cash from the Iranian government.

Separately, a leaked cable suggested an academic sought more than £250,000 in US government funding to develop contacts in Iran.