London has spent at least 350 million pounds promoting opposition forces and projects in rebel-held areas of Syria.
According to ISNA, quoting the Daily Maverick news website, according to the latest reports published in London, it has directly supported several projects related to groups classified as “moderate armed opposition” in Syria.
The Whitehall Fund for Conflict, Stability and Security (CSSF), which has funded these projects since its inception in 2015, does not provide full details of its plans. But Declassified UK, the British investigative journalism website, has confirmed that the fund has funded 13 projects supporting the Syrian opposition worth 215 million in the past five years. Of this amount, at least 162 million has been provided from the British government’s relief budget, which the government claims will be used to “defeat poverty, tackle instability and create prosperity in developing countries”. This money is separate from the British humanitarian aid program to Syria.
The CSSF projects are in dispute over the British government’s refusal to disclose the names of insurgent groups in Syria it has helped. Many of the forces fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are extremist groups, and members and equipment have long been exchanged between various rebel groups.
Project documents show that British aid has been provided for years in areas of Syria where extremist groups operate.
The British budget for Syrian rebel groups began immediately after the anti-Assad uprisings in early 2011. The aid projects coincided with Britain’s covert plan to overthrow the Syrian government with its allies in the United States, the Gulf states and Turkey, some of which have implemented CSSF projects.
Britain has sought to establish a pro-Western government in Damascus and to develop opposition-held areas as an alternative to the Assad regime.
This figure of 350 million is considered the minimum money spent, as it does not include activities funded by the British “black budget”, including intelligence operations. The black budget includes the government’s covert activities, including military intelligence and cover-up activities.
The British government gives Parliament conflicting budget information and CSSF issues are not transparent at all, for example the names of many project contractors are changed. A parliamentary committee compared the CSSF to an investment fund used for illegal activities, saying the money was apparently spent on projects that did not “meet the needs of the UK’s national security”.
