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The Grand Turk

Key Syrian White Helmets backer found dead in Istanbul - diplomat

2019-11-12

[Jpost] The founder of an organization that trained the Syrian "White Helmets" emergency response group has died in Istanbul, his neighbor and a diplomat said on Monday.

James Le Mesurier, founder of the Mayday Rescue group, was found dead early on Monday near his home in central Istanbul's Beyoglu district, the neighbor said. The diplomat said the circumstances around his death were unclear.

The White Helmets, known officially as Syria Civil Defence, have been credited with saving thousands of people in rebel-held areas during years of bombing by Syrian government and Russian forces in the country's civil war.

Mayday Rescue is a not-for-profit organization with offices in Amsterdam and Istanbul whose projects have been funded by the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
and various governments. Mayday Rescue did not immediately respond to an emailed query about Le Mesurier.

Courtesy of Frank G, more from Zero Hedge:

A former British army officer and military contractor who founded the shadowy 'White Helmets' has been found dead near his home in Istanbul, days after he was accused by Russia of being a spy with "connections to terrorist groups."

The body of 43-year-old James Le Mesurier was found Monday in the Beyoglu district of the city, with state-run Anadolu news agency reporting that he may have fallen to his death.

The White Helmets, a roughly 3,000 member NGO formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense, was established in Turkey in "late 2012 - early 2013" Le Mesurier trained an initial group of 20 Syrians. The group then received funding from Le Mesurier's Netherlands-based non-profit group, Mayday Rescue - which is in turn funded by grants from the Dutch, British, Danish and German governments.

According to reporter and author Max Blumenthal, the White Helmets received at least $55 million from the British Foreign Office and $23 million from the Agency for International Development. They have also received millions from Qatar, which has backed several extremist groups in Syria including Al Qaeda.
Max Blumenthal is a Dem conspiracy, anti-semite crank
The US has provided at least $32 million to the group - around 1/3 of their total funding - through a USAID scheme orchestrated by the Obama State Department and routed overseas using a Washington D.C. contractor participating in USAID's Syria regional program, Chemonics.

Posted by:trailing wife

#3 No I mean, remember these white helmets cleaning up after supposed sarin attack with scarfs wraped around their faces?

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-11-12 16:31

#2 Check didn't clear?

Posted by: Skidmark 2019-11-12 16:11

#1 Somebody had enough?

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-11-12 03:45

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