A London Attacker and UK Covert Operations in Syria and LibyaBy Mark Curtis
June 07, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - The Telegraph reports that London attacker Rachid Redouane fought in the 2011 British/NATO war against Qadafi – as did Salman Abedi, the Manchester bomber – and joined a militia which went on to send jihadist fighters to Syria. In Libya, he is believed to have fought with the Liwa al Ummah unit.[1]
The Liwa al Ummah was formed by a deputy of Abdul Hakim Belhaj, the former emir of the al Qaeda-linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. In 2012, the Liwa al Ummah in Syria merged with the Free Syrian Army (FSA)[2], which was formed in August 2011 by army deserters based in Turkey[3] whose aim was to bring down Assad.
In Syria, the Liwa al Ummah was often referred to as an ‘FSA unit’[4] and sometimes teamed up with al-Nusra, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria. [5]
The UK has been reported as covertly supporting al-Nusra in Syria.[6] Moreover, the UK backed and supplied the FSA. In February 2012 Britain pledged to send advanced communications equipment to the FSA to help coordinate its forces.[7] In August 2012, it was reported that British authorities “know about and approve 100%” intelligence from their Cyprus military bases being passed through Turkey to the rebel troops of the FSA.[8] In August 2013, the UK announced £1m support to the FSA in form of communication and other equipment.[9]
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
|
What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments
|
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten