White Helmets, ‘Local Councils’ – Is the UK FCO Financing Terrorism in Syria with Taxpayer Funds?
Vanessa Beeley
21st Century Wire
21st Century Wire
The UK regime is a primary player in the ostensibly US-led coalition whose objective for the last seven years, has been the removal of Syria’s President Assad and the inevitable imposition of a so called “moderate” Islamic State upon the people of Syria. This campaign has led to the destabilization of Syria and destruction of infrastructure across much of its territory. Not to mention, the wholesale suffering endured by the Syrian people under attack from NATO member state sponsored terrorism and punishing economic sanctions. It is therefore ironic that the UK Government funds the Syrian “opposition” via its Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF):
“The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) provides development and security support to countries which are at risk of conflict or instability. It’s the only government fund which uses both Defence spend and Official Development Assistance (ODA) to deliver and support security, defence, peacekeeping, peace-building and stability activity.”
Previously under the heading ‘Conflict Pool‘, the CSSF is a £1bn-plus slush fund dedicated to providing “development and security”, according to the UK Government overview.
“The CSSF has been allocated £1.163 billion for 2017 to 2018. It includes over £300 million mandatory contributions to peacekeeping operations.” ~ CSSF An Overview
From the outset, CSSF spending has been shrouded in secrecy, particularly with regards to Syria.
Following a recent Parliamentary Question from Baroness Caroline Cox, it has been confirmed that the UK FCO has financed the Syrian “opposition” for three years through the CSSF:
“The value of the CSSF for Syria is £69 million in the current financial year, was £64 million in 2016-17, and £66 million in 2015-16.” – Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, FCO
Over the period of three years the UK government has poured almost £200 million of tax payer funds into a failed proxy military intervention in Syria. However, the British government will not release the names of the recipients of this funding and make the claim that they are not providing lethal aid:
“This support to the moderate opposition has included political support and non-lethal equipment. In terms of equipment, we have provided communications, medical and logistics equipment. We have also provided equipment to protect against chemical weapons attack. For security reasons we do not disclose the names of groups supported.” – Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, FCO
Journalist, Peter Oborne, explained what this really means:
“We’ve spent £200m in Syria – for nothing. It is now clear that British backing for the ‘rebels’ in the Syrian civil war was not just a mistake, it was a disaster. The policy made a horrific war much worse, and facilitated the growth of ISIS. Though the Government said we were helping ‘moderates’, the main beneficiaries were Al-Qaeda and other jihadists…”
THE GO-BETWEENS IN EAST ALEPPO
During my time in East Aleppo in 2016/17 with Syrian journalist, Khaled Iskef, we translated documents (in Arabic) found by Iskef, that referred to two UK organisations, Adam Smith International and Integrity Global in connection with the funding of Syrian “opposition” structures in East Aleppo.
These documents were found among the debris of the various Nusra Front (Al Qaeda in Syria) centres, East Aleppo Council buildings and White Helmet centres. It is noteworthy that these three entities operating in what was terrorist occupied East Aleppo until December 2016, always worked alongside one another, either sharing facilities and buildings or next door to one another in the various districts of East Aleppo where they centered their activities.—
Both Adam Smith International and Integrity Global are funded by the UK FCO via the CSSF to offer “assistance” to the Syrian “opposition” and this has been achieved via a variety of outreach agents, one of which is the Tamkeen Project, which claims to “build resilience in Syrian communities” and which establishes, funds and supports the “local councils” in terrorist held areas such as East Aleppo and Idlib. Appropriately, Tamkeen means “empowerment” in Arabic.
“Launched in 2013, and run by development consultants Adam Smith International, Tamkeen is different to anything else being funded by the global community in Syria. It is the first programme to combine the provision of aid – in the form of schools, hospitals and services as basic as waste management and water treatment – with the perilous job of trying to create the foundation for legitimate government in a war zone. In short, it is building democracy from the bottom up. And doing it as the bombs fall.” – The Guardian
The following video was filmed in the Al Sha’ar district of East Aleppo in July 2017 and shows a Tamkeen financed East Aleppo Council building opposite a former garage that was requisitioned as a Nusra Front (Al Qaeda) bomb-making factory. Watch:
…
This image (below) shows the black powder that Nusra Front used to pack inside shells & gas canisters, similar to what is used inside DIME or “Tungsten” bombs deployed against Gaza by Israel in 2012 and 2014. These missiles would release the metal nano-particles on explosion and the particles are transferred from the wounds to the internal organs of the victims, causing inoperable damage and eventual septicemia from which there is usually no recovery.
These deadly missiles were used on a regular basis against the 1.5 million Syrian civilians in the Syrian Government-protected West Aleppo during the terrorist & extremist occupation of East Aleppo. According to civilian testimony, after the liberation of East Aleppo, these missiles were also used against civilians in the occupied districts by the terrorist factions who then blamed such attacks on the advancing Syrian Arab Army.
Brita Hagi Hassan, “Mayor of Aleppo” with former French President, Francois Hollande December 2016. (Photo: Sputnik)
The Tamkeen Project birthed and then nurtured the “Local Councils,” operating in what was terrorist-occupied East Aleppo. According to Brita Haji Hassan, the self-proclaimed “mayor of Aleppo” 2016, in an interview with the Guardian, the programme provided (East) Aleppo city council with £ 820,000 (May 2016).
While Hassan took great pains to describe his assumed “municipality” as “liberated Aleppo”, he naturally avoided mentioning the Nusra Front dominated terrorist presence that was committing atrocities against the Syrian civilians who dared to resist their occupiers’ extremist ideology or brutal oppression. Hassan tried to reinforce the myth that very few Nusra Front fighters remained in East Aleppo in December 2016 and that they were outnumbered by the “moderates” who had elected Hassan to his post as their representative. A representative of the associated “democratic institutions“.
Democratic institutions… such as the Sharia court in the Ma’adi district Eye & Childrens Hospital compound that had been occupied by ISIS until 2014, then by Nusra Front in coordination with the Al Shameya Front & other extremist brigades. The following interview with Ahmad Aldayh was conducted in May 2017. Aldayh had been imprisoned in this particular “democratic institution”.
“The terrorists arrested a guy, the only child of his family. They arrested him because they found a picture of one of his friends carrying the Syrian flag, on his mobile phone. The terrorists tortured him for three hours, then they executed him”
…
Dr Nabil Antaki, an eminent gastroenterologist from Aleppo had this to say about Hassan’s delusions of grandeur:
“Returning to the subject of this pseudo-mayor, Brita Hagi Hassan, I can assure you, he is mayor of nothing. Nobody in Aleppo had ever heard of him before he was magicked out of nowhere by the West. […] I ask all my friends in the West, please don’t believe your media & government lies and I have one message for the media: Enough! Stop lying!”
THE ADAM SMITH SCANDAL
In March 2017 the founders of ASI were forced to abdicate their roles when the UK government allegedly froze future contracts over questions about its ethical integrity. According to a Guardian article:
“Last month DfID cut off funding after it emerged that ASI, which has been entrusted with £450m in development cash since 2011, had tried to profiteer by exploiting leaked department documents. It was also heavily criticised for trying to “unduly influence” a parliamentary inquiry by engineering “letters of appreciation” from beneficiaries of its projects.”
A statement from ASI said three founding executives – Andrew Kuhn, Amitabh Shrivastavaand Peter Young – would step down as it “completed its transition to an employee-owned company“. William Morrisson, a founding director and ASI’s executive chairman would also resign after leading the disgraced company through its “restructuring” & “reform” programme.
The DFID (Department for International Development) was further embarasssed as the Commons International Development Committee described ASI’s actions as “deplorable”, “entirely inappropriate” and said those involved had demonstrated “a serious lack of judgement”. Euphemisms for back channel corruption of the highest order.
However according to a Times article in September 2017, it appears that all promises of reform were merely paying lip service to the ASI detractors and there had been no intention of bringing an end to the ASI fraudulent & profitable procurement practices:
“The chairman of a controversial aid consultancy has been ousted after an aborted attempt to resume bidding for government contracts.
Adam Smith International (ASI), which has received hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, has been tarnished by scandals and claims that it has made excessive profits from aid contracts.
It is being investigated by the Department for International Development (Dfid) after officials found that it used “improperly obtained” government documents for commercial advantage. It has also been criticised by MPs for helping to write “letters of appreciation” submitted to an inquiry into the use of aid contracts. Four executives stood down this year and the company announced reforms after pressure from the government.” ~ The Times
Photo from Daily Mail article: ‘How Britain pours £568m of YOUR money into war-torn Somalia despite ‘certain’ risk it will be stolen by ISIS and used to fund terrorism.’
Perhaps rather naively, one might assume that the scandal that had affected DFID would be transferred over to the UK FCO CSSF managers. A quick look at the UK FCO spend ‘over £25,000’ for 2017 certainly shows continued payments being made to ASI, including in the updated entry on 29th September 2017.
In fact, in the month of August 2017 alone, ASI received £ 3.79m from the UK FCO. It appears that the FCO is happy to be using a known criminally questionable & corrupt conduit to transfer funds that will almost certainly make their way into the hands of internationally proclaimed terrorist groups and their affiliates, this time in Syria.
EAST ALEPPO COUNC
Factions in east Aleppo announce formation of "Aleppo Command Council" in attempt to bring groups under 1 command
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The Aleppo Command Council, a unification of all eastern district “councils,” was set up mid November as the fierce battles for the liberation of East Aleppo from western backed terrorist factions were drawing to a close. The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) allied advance was tightening the noose around the final terrorist enclaves that included the Old City of Aleppo and the Omayyed Mosque, where these photos were taken. So the last stand by the Tamkeen established, UK FCO financed, Local Council was reaching its finale.
Seems beheading children doesn't make you a terrorist but it does qualify you to be a "moderate rebel" leader in Eastern Aleppo
#Syria
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A study of the photo & the nature of its subjects might give a few clues as to the terrorist affiliations of these Council members but one individual in particular stands out, Omar Salkho. Salkho (see image below) was a member of US backed “moderate” extremist group, Harakat Nour al Din Zenki & is seated in the centre of the photograph. This group’s notoriety rose to prominence after they publicly tortured and beheaded Palestinian child, Abdullah Issa in July 2016.
Did the UK FCO ‘overlook’ the terrorist activities and affiliations of the Local Councils they were financing by proxy just as they had overlooked the criminal fraud and seedy double-dealing conducted by ASI?
UK FCO-FINANCED TERRORISM
AbdulAziz Maghrabi seated centre, with Ahrar Al Sham fighters. (Photo: Maghrabi’s Facebook page)
In December 2013 a militant fighter, Abdulaziz Maghrabi (seen above) was elected President of the East Aleppo Council. At that time, aforementioned Hagi Hassan was his deputy. In an Al Araby article that focused on Maghrabi, he informed them that he had been with the Muslim Brotherhood-Qatari-backed Al Tawhid Islamist brigades when East Aleppo was first invaded in 2012. He was then elected to the presidency of the East Aleppo Council AND he helped form the “civil defence” aka the White Helmets in East Aleppo in 2013, with the backing of the international sponsors & creators of this hybrid, pseudo first-responder organisation.
According to a report in Al Monitor, al-Tawhid Brigade’s military commander, Abdul Qadir al-Saleh, made the following statement in 2013:
“Saleh recently praised Jabhat al-Nusra and “the high coordination between them and the rest of the factions fighting on the ground. … [There is] great coordination with them on the military side.” That was not the first time he made such a statement. In April, he expressed his “complete rejection to include Jabhat al-Nusra on the US terrorism list,” adding that the group didn’t engage in terrorism.”
When I spoke to crew members of the former East Aleppo REAL Syria Civil Defence who had been expelled from East Aleppo by the militant groups, they told me these groups had taken over the East Aleppo centres in 2012-2013, killing many crew members, kidnapping others and stealing their equipment. One crew member told me they had tried to force him to stay and work with them, but he succeeded in escaping to the secure, terrorist-free West Aleppo which remained under Syrian government protection throughout the Nusra Front-led occupation of East Aleppo until December 2016. In his haste, he had been forced to leave his teenage sons behind in East Aleppo.
White Helmets and terrorist factions had marked him for assassination should he try to re-enter East Aleppo via any of the terrorist checkpoints. Other crew members told me how they & their families now working & living in West Aleppo had been deliberately targeted by militant factions in East Aleppo, even during rescue missions.
Maghrabi (better known as Abu Salma) did not relinquish his terrorist connections at any point. He remained an active member of Nusra Front according to testimony from Syrian civilians & ex-fighters in East Aleppo who resumed normal life in Aleppo after the final evacuation of terrorist factions in December 2016. Maghrabi has regularly been photographed with Ahrar Al Sham and at demonstrations with Nusra Front militants.
In this photo, Maghrabi is seen being interviewed by Halab Today TV, during an East Aleppo, Nusra Front demonstration in September 2014 (Nusra Front black flag can be seen in the background):
FURTHER READING: http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/12/02/white-helmets-local-councils-uk-fco-financing-terrorism-syria-taxpayer-funds/
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