BEIRUT: The American University of Beirut, a recipient of financial aid from the United States Agency for International Development, has agreed to pay $700,000 to settle a civil lawsuit in which federal prosecutors accused it of assisting three organizations affiliated with Hezbollah.
“For years, the American University of Beirut accepted grant money from USAID, but failed to take reasonable steps to ensure against providing material support to entities on the Treasury Department’s prohibited list,” Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said in a statement carried by Reuters Friday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the university admitted to providing training in workshops to representatives from al Nour and al Manar media organizations between 2007 and 2009.
Both media groups are listed by the U.S. Treasury Department as branches of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Federal prosecutors also said the university used its website to connect students with Jihad al-Binaa, another organization that the U.S. Treasury Department says is linked to Hezbollah.
The university said that its conduct had been neither “knowing, intentional or reckless.”
“AUB is pleased to have reached the settlement and looks forward to continuing to provide a world-class education to students of all backgrounds,” an AUB statement released Friday said.
