Syria Says It Held Talks With Western Spies About Jihadis
LONDON
— As Western countries display increasing alarm at the strength of
multinational Islamist extremists among rebels in Syria opposed to
President Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian official was quoted on Wednesday as
saying Western intelligence agencies had sent representatives to
Damascus to discuss the phenomenon with the government there.
If
confirmed, the assertion by the official, Faisal Mekdad, the deputy
foreign minister, would mean that while Western politicians have
publicly called for Mr. Assad’s ouster, their own intelligence
subordinates were privately collaborating with Mr. Assad’s lieutenants.
In an interview with the BBC,
Mr. Mekdad was asked whether representatives of Western intelligence
agencies — including those of Britain — had recently traveled to
Damascus. “I will not specify them but many of them have visited
Damascus, yes,” he replied.
“When
these countries ask for security cooperation, then it seems to me there
is a schism between the security and the political leadership,” he
said. “Many of these countries have contacted us to coordinate security
measures.”
Coming
a week before planned international peace talks in Geneva on Syria’s
future, the official’s assertion may have been meant to create an
impression that Western opposition to Mr. Assad’s tenure is not as
absolute as politicians have suggested.
The
BBC quoted Khaled Saleh, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National
Coalition, as saying that if confirmed, Mr. Mekdad’s assertion would
show a “clear contradiction” between the words and the actions of
supposed supporters of the rebels who had previously “clearly identified
the Assad regime as a source of terrorism in the region.”
Western
concern has been growing over insurgency groups in Syria linked to Al
Qaeda, which have attracted hundreds of European jihadists, offering
them training in military tactics that could be used when they return to
their own countries.
The Wall Street Journal, which reported
that European intelligence agencies had met secretly with Mr. Assad’s
delegates to share information on European extremists operating in
Syria, said the discussions had focused on at least 1,200 militants.
Quoting
unidentified Western and Middle Eastern sources, the newspaper said the
meetings had been the first such contacts with the Syrian authorities
since European countries, along with the United States, withdrew their
diplomats from Damascus as the country’s civil war deepened following
the first stirrings of revolt in March, 2011.
The
Journal said a retired official from MI6, Britain’s overseas
intelligence agency, had been the first of the Western spies to visit
Damascus on behalf of the British government last summer. The British
Foreign Office declined to comment, saying it does not publicly address
intelligence issues.
Intelligence
officers from Germany, France and Spain had also been traveling from
Beirut to Damascus since November, The Journal said, citing diplomats
and officials with knowledge of the overtures, but the United States was
not involved.
end quote from:
| New York Times | - |
LONDON - As Western countries display increasing alarm at the strength of multinational Islamist extremists among rebels in Syria opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, a Syrian official was quoted on Wednesday as saying Western intelligence agencies ...
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