The Dutch government has been supporting an armed group in Syria which has been branded a terrorist organisation by the public prosecution department, current affairs show Nieuwsuur reported on Monday night.

The Netherlands provided uniforms and pick-up trucks to the group known as Jabbat al-Shamiya in 2017, the programme said. Next week, a Dutch jihadi faces court for being a member of the same group.

The equipment was sent to the group as part of a secret programme providing ‘non-lethal’ assistance to 22 rebel groups in Syria from 2015 to the beginning of this year.

According to the public prosecutor Jabbat al-Shamiya is ‘salafist and jihadistic’, ‘strives for the setting up of the caliphate’ and can be qualified as nothing else but a ‘criminal organisation of terrorist intent’.

The fact that the government has supported the organisation in the past could upset the court case, according to legal experts. ‘A court could easily say that it would not convict someone for doing something which had been facilitated by the state,’ Geert-Jan Knops told broadcaster NOS.

Michiel Pestman, who represents the man facing trial in three weeks, told NOS the Nieuwsuur claims undermine the public prosecution’s case.

Stop

The Netherlands has admitted funding Syrian rebel groups but has always maintained they were moderate.

However, this weekend foreign minister Stef Blok and trade minister Sigrid Kaag sent a briefing to MPs explaining that the Netherlands has stopped funding the Syrian opposition in the civil war against president Assad.

The chance that rebel forces will be able to win the civil war is, the ministers say, now ‘extremely limited’. Dutch support for the rebels has ‘not had the desired effects’, the ministers said. The Netherlands had set aside €70m to fund the opposition.

Nieuwsuur says the letter was sent to MPs after it had confronted them with its findings. ‘These findings strengthen our conviction that the decision to stop the funding was the correct one,’ the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Debate

MPs said they were shocked by the Nieuwsuur broadcast and have called on ministers to explain how this could happen.

Much of the information has been declared secret but MPs still want ministers to explain to parliament what has been done. ‘What appears to have happened is exactly what we were afraid of,’ said ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Seegers.

In 2015, the CU attempted to have the financial support to Syrian rebel groups stopped but failed to get sufficient support.

Nieuwsuur later published more allegations, claiming that other groups funded by the Netherlands committed human rights violations and war crimes. The broadcaster said it bases its claims on interviews with some 100 ‘rebel leaders’ and people involved with the programme. </s> The Dutch government faced a storm of protest from lawmakers Monday after a news report said it supported a Syrian opposition group which Dutch prosecutors had labelled a "terrorist" organisation.

Parliamentarians demanded answers after the report aired by the national public broadcaster said the Netherlands gave "non-lethal assistance" (NLA) to 22 armed opposition groups battling President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

The television programme, which worked together with the respected Christian-based Trouw newspaper, identified one group as Jabhat al-Shamiya, which it said had been supplied with pick-up trucks, uniforms and other equipment last year.

But at the same time, Dutch prosecutors in the port city of Rotterdam were prosecuting a suspected jihadist for belonging to the Jabhat al-Shamiya group, which they labelled in court papers as a "salafist and jihadist movement striving for a caliphate."

It was nothing more than a "criminal organisation with a terrorist aim," the prosecutors added in the court papers.

Monday's revelations come days after Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok's announcement that the government was cutting all support to "moderate" opposition groups in Syria which has been ravaged by seven years of civil war.

"Resulting from the regime's reclamation of large parts of Syria and the shrinking space for moderate opposition, cabinet has decided... to stop the NLA programme," Blok said in a letter sent to parliament on Friday.

But politicians, both from the opposition and from parties in Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's ruling coalition, said they demanded clarity.

"This (news report) screams for an answer," Christian Democrat party MP Pieter Omtzigt told AFP late Monday.

He said he and fellow CDA lawmaker Martijn van Helvert have been asking cabinet at numerous occasions to explain the Netherlands' support to opposition groups in Syria.

Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, MP for the progressive D66 party called it a "shocking report."

"How did this happen, despite all the warnings by lawmakers?" he was quoted as saying by the ANP national news service.

Omtzigt said cabinet was bound to a deadline on Tuesday in which it had to answer the questions, including whether any aid to Syria may have ended up with extremist groups. </s> The Netherlands has decided to end its support to militants in Syria, since the program did not yield “expected” results. The move comes as journalists found one of the groups had been labeled as terrorists by the country itself.

“The opportunity to quickly change the situation [in Syria] is extremely small,” reads the letter the lower house of the parliament by Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Minister for Foreign Trade Sigrid Kaag, announcing the end of support programs for the militants in Syria.

The program to support of “moderate” anti-government groups in Syria was established in close cooperation with “like-minded donors who pursued the same goals as the Netherlands” and cost the country over $80 million (some €80 million) over the years, according to the document. It failed to “bring the expected results,” however, and is to be closed since the Syrian troops “will soon win” the war against militant groups.

Over the years, the Netherlands allocated $29 million (€25 million) to the so-called “non-lethal assistance” (NLA) program, $14.5 million (€12.5 million) were donated to the so-called White Helmets and $17.1 million (€14,8 million) went to the Access to Justice and Community Service (AJACS) program. The AJACS was supposedly designed to support “community police” work in Syria, specifically the so-called Free Syrian Police (FSP) group.

The support for militants is set to end immediately, yet the White Helmets will be funded until December, according to the document. Since the White Helmets now operate only in the Idlib province, which is believed to be the destination of the looming offensive by the Syrian Army and its allies, their future is quite doubtful, the document states.

The move has come amid a damning journalist investigation by the two Dutch newspapers – Nieuwsuur and Trouw. According to their report, 22 armed militant groups were subjects to receive supplies through the NLA program. The “non-lethal” goods supplied by the Dutch government included satellite phones, uniforms, assorted equipment and even the ‘iconic’ Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks, widely used by various militant groups in Syria.

At least one of the groups supplied by the Netherlands, Jabhat al-Shamiya, turned out to be labeled a terrorist group by the country’s own justice department, the journalists have revealed. One Dutch man is currently prosecuted for joining the group back in 2015, with the indictment describing it as a “salafist and jihadist” movement which can qualify only as a “criminal organization with terrorist intent.” The ultimate goal of the group is creation of a “caliphate,” according to the prosecution.

Five other militant groups that the journalists managed to identify have been also involved in human rights violations and cooperated with terrorist groups, the investigative report states. More information about the militants will be released by the two newspapers in the following days.

The extent of the Dutch support to actual terrorists in Syria might be even bigger, since the other recipients openly named in the government letter are quite controversial, to say the least.

The FSP has been operating exclusively in Syria’s province of Idlib, largely controlled by the local Al-Qaeda branch, Al-Nusra Front (now rebranded as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham). The FSP got in limelight last December, when BBC aired the Panorama program titled ‘Jihadis You Pay For.’ The program claimed that the FSP officers had to be approved by Al-Nusra henchmen to get enlisted into the “police force.”

Following the program’s broadcast the UK Foreign Office suspended funding to the FSP through the AJACS program, and ended it completely in August.

The White Helmets have likewise been repeatedly accused of closely cooperating with jihadist groups and effectively serving as their media branch. The group has advertised itself as a volunteer force and Syria’s “civil defense.” The White Helmets have been widely praised in the West and even received an Oscar for a “documentary” movie. The mounting evidence, however, suggests, that they’ve been actively participating in other sorts of “filmmaking,” namely staging chemical attacks that were blamed on the Syrian government.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! </s> The prosecutor's office's spokesperson told reporters that the office still adhered to its position, but could comment on the fact that the group was recognized as a terrorist one only within the framework of a specific criminal case.

The media reported that apart from Jabhat al-Shamiya, the authorities also assisted other armed groups that were involved in "serious human rights violations" and "cooperation with extremists."

Dutch lawmakers said they were "shocked" by the news. The country's Foreign Ministry said that they treated the information "very seriously," and stressed that this only strengthened them in the decision to stop assistance programs for armed opposition, which were adopted last week.

Earlier in the day, the government of the Netherlands announced the complete cessation of assistance to opposition groups and other organizations in Syria due to the inefficiency of the program. According to them, the program did not bring the expected results, while the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad, in their opinion, "will soon win."

The Netherlands has reportedly allocated over $80 million to the Syrian opposition groups, including to the Free Syrian Police and White Helmets. The support for the opposition was set to end immediately, while White Helmets will be funded until December. The Kingdom did not provide weapons to groups, aid was allocated to purchase food, cars and equipment.

The Syrian authorities have said that the lifesaving procedures shown in the videos published by the White Helmets were fake and staged. Moscow called the activities of the White Helmets a part of a defamation campaign against the Syrian authorities. Moreover, both Moscow and Damascus said that the White Helmets had ties with terrorists and extremists. The group's head, Raed Saleh, said in August that the White Helmets were not linked to any terror organization.

READ MORE: US-Spawned Terrorism in Syria 'Will Turn Around Like a Boomerang & Destroy Them' </s> The Netherlands will end its support for Syrian militants, since the program did not yield the "expected" results. Earlier, journalists found one of the groups had been labeled 'terrorist' by the Dutch justice department.reads the letter the lower house of the parliament by Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Minister for Foreign Trade Sigrid Kaag,and [has] cost the country over $80 million (some €69 million) over the years, according to the document.and is to be closed since the Syrian troops "will soon win" the war against militant groups.Over the years, the Netherlands allocated $29 million (€25 million) to the(NLA) program, $14.5 million (€12.5 million) were donated to theand $17.1 million (€14,8 million) went to the(AJACS) program. The AJACS was supposedly designed to support "community police" work in Syria, specifically theaccording to the document. Since the White Helmets now operate only in the Idlib province, which is believed to be the destination of the looming offensive by the Syrian Army and its allies, their future is quite doubtful, the document states.by the two Dutch newspapers - Nieuwsuur and Trouw. According to their report , 22 armed militant groups were subjects to receive supplies through the NLA program. The "non-lethal" goods supplied by the Dutch government included satellite phones, uniforms, assorted equipment and even the 'iconic' Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks, widely used by various militant groups in Syria.At least one of the groups supplied by the Netherlands,the journalists have revealed. One Dutch man is currently prosecuted for joining the group back in 2015, withmovement which can qualify only as aThe ultimate goal of the group is creation of a "caliphate," according to the prosecution.the investigative report states. More information about the militants will be released by the two newspapers in the following days.The extent of the Dutch support to actual terrorists in Syria might be even bigger, since the other recipients openly named in the government letter are quite controversial, to say the least.The FSP has been operating exclusively in Syria's province of Idlib, largely controlled by the local Al-Qaeda branch, Al-Nusra Front (now rebranded as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham). The FSP got in limelight last December, when BBC aired the Panorama program titledThe program claimed that the FSP officers had to be approved by Al-Nusra henchmen to get enlisted into the "police force."Following the program's broadcastthrough the AJACS program, and ended it completely in August.The group has advertised itself as a volunteer force and Syria's "civil defense." The White Helmets have been widely praised in the West and even received an Oscar for a "documentary" movie. </s> The Netherlands has stopped funding the Syrian opposition in the civil war against president Assad, foreign minister Stef Blok and trade minister Sigrid Kaag have told MPs in a briefing.

The chance that rebel forces will be able to win the civil war is, the ministers say, now ‘extremely limited’. Dutch support for the rebels has ‘not had the desired effects’, the ministers said. The Netherlands had set aside €70m to fund the opposition.

In addition to funding ‘moderate’ rebels, the Netherland had also put money into their police forces and to the White Helmets programme, the civilian rescue service. Funding for the first two programmes has stopped immediately while the White Helmet support will end in December.

The Netherlands will, however, continue to support Syrian people ‘which will be extremely necessary’ in the coming period, ministers said. Some three million people live in Idlib, which is the last rebel stronghold and where a major offensive by Assad supporters Russia is said to be about to take place.

In their briefing ministers are pessimistic about the current situation in Syria, saying that a military victory by Assad’s forces is ‘imminent’ and that the ‘inherent instability’ means the prospects for lasting peace are gloomy.

However, the Netherlands will continue to strive for a political solution and to support Syria’s neighbouring countries which have also been hit by the conflict, the letter said.

Read the report on the three projects (English) </s> The Trump State Department has frozen funding to the controversial Syrian aid group known as the White Hemlets, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which provided the sole evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly used chemical weapons on his own people in an April 7 attack on the city of Douma, according to CBS News.

The evidence provided by the White Helmets of the alleged chemical attack was used by the West to justify several airstrikes on Syrian scientific and military facilities throughout April - the first one conducted on Syria's T4 airbase by Israel 48 hours after the White Helmets' report. Many Douma residents, meanwhile - including Hospital personnel, say the chemical attack never happened.

The White Helmets are a 3,000 member NGO formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense. Established in "late 2012 - early 2013" after a group of 20 Syrians were trained and organized by former British army officer James Le Mesurier. 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.

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 funneled to the White Helmets using a Washington D.C. contractor participating in USAID's Syria regional program, Chemonics.

According to their website, the White Helmets have been directly funded by Mayday Rescue, and a company called Chemonics, since 2014. Yet there’s evidence that both of those organizations started supporting the White Helmets back in early 2013, right around the time the White Helmets claim to have formed as self-organized groups. Mayday Rescue, as we said, is funded by the Dutch, British, Danish and German governments. And Chemonics? They are a Washington, D.C. based contractor that was awarded $128.5 million in January 2013 to support “a peaceful transition to a democratic and stable Syria” as part of USAID’s Syria regional program. At least $32 million has been given directly to the White Helmets as of February 2018. -TruthInMedia

So the US, Dutch, British, Danish and German governments have been funding the White Helmets, a non-governmental organization, through proxies for around five years.

Perhaps fueled by troubling reports that the White Helmets have been accused of staging incidents, the Trump administration has now frozen funding to the group, and has placed support under "active review."

Now they are not getting any U.S funding as the State Department says the support is "under active review." The U.S had accounted for about a third of the group's overall funding. An internal State Department document said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from the administration to green light funding for the White Helmets in Syria by April 15th or the department would initiate "shut-down procedures on a rolling basis." -CBS News

"This is a very worrisome development," an official with the White Helmets told CBS. "Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers ability to save lives."

Or not, depending on how one feels about the White Helmets...

Last week, Russian officials brought fifteen people to The Hague from the city of Douma, Syria said to have been present during the alleged April 7 chemical attack, including 11-year-old Hassan Diab who was seen in a widely-distributed White Helmets video receiving "emergency treatment" in a local hospital after the alleged incident.

“We were at the basement and we heard people shouting that we needed to go to a hospital. We went through a tunnel. At the hospital they started pouring cold water on me,” said Diab, who was featured in the video which Russia's ambassador to the Netherlands says was staged.

The boy and his family have spoken to various media outlets, who say there was no attack.

Others present during the filming of Diab's hospital "cleanup" by the White Helmets include hospital administrator Ahmad Kashoi, who runs the emergency ward.

“There were people unknown to us who were filming the emergency care, they were filming the chaos taking place inside, and were filming people being doused with water. The instruments they used to douse them with water were originally used to clean the floors actually,” Ahmad Kashoi, an administrator of the emergency ward, recalled. “That happened for about an hour, we provided help to them and sent them home. No one has died. No one suffered from chemical exposure.” -RT

Also speaking at The Hague was Halil al-Jaish, an emergency worker who treated people at the Douma hospital the day of the attack - who said that while some patients did come in for respiratory problems, they were attributed to heavy dust, present in the air after recent airstrikes, but that nobody showed signs of chemical warfare poisoning.

The White Helmets have previously come under fire for allegations of fabricating evidence and staging bodies. Several of their members have been pictured with, or bear an uncanny resemblance to fighters from the various anti-Assad terrorist groups operating in the region.

Photographic and video evidence gathered over social media and elsewhere depicting White Helmets who appear to be affiliated with terrorist groups can be found here.

And Donald Trump just yanked 1/3 of their funding... </s> A court in London sentenced Dutch man Aweys S. to eight years in prison for terrorism. He was found guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism and planning to join terrorist organization ISIS in Syria, British newspapers Mail Online and Mirror report.

In 2013 S. left his family behind in Breda to move to London, where he got a job as a package deliverer, according to newspaper AD. In London he became radicalized, the British judiciary said in court. The Somali-born Dutch man made headlines in the United Kingdom when prosecutors revealed chat conversations he had with a man in Kenya in court. In these chats they talked about killing former Prime Minister James Cameron and Queen Elizabeth, and opening fire on football supporters and Jewish people.

The court did not convict him for these statements. "These conversations, although chilling, dangerous and testament to your increasing radicalization, were in my judgment more in the nature of fantasy than conspiracy", the judge told him, according to the Mirror. "I am not sentencing you, indeed cannot sentence you on this charge, for threatened acts of terrorism in this country."

The judge added: "Given the scope of your ambition, including your fantasies about the commission of very grave terrorist acts in the UK and your hatred for those who do not share your views, I have no hesitation in finding you dangerous."

S. was arrested at Stansted airport in London on May 24th last year, as he was preparing to board a flight to Turkey, from where he wanted to sneak across the border to Syria or Iraq, according to the Prosecutor.

"You can have no illusions about the nature of the fighters whose ranks you aspired to join, no illusions about their murderous behavior, their atrocities", the judge said, according to Mail Online. "But for your detention at Stansted you could have been within the heart of the area then controlled by so-called Islamic State within a few days."

The Dutch man was convicted for preparing acts of terrorism by applying for a loan, buying a one way ticket to Turkey, and going to the London airport to travel abroad and join a terrorist organization. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. </s> Three Syrians have been arrested in the western German state of Saarland after half a year of investigations into their suspected links to terrorist groups, police and state prosecutors said on Friday.

Investigators say one of the detainees had tried to recruit fighters from Germany via the internet to take part in the civil war as members of the banned extremist group Ahrar al-Sham. The group belongs to the Salafist scene and wants to establish an Islamic state in Syria based on Sharia law. The others were said to have been members of the terrorist group "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria.

Read more: What is the Ahrar Al-Sham organization in Syria?

Two of the men are on a list of those people German police consider to be a terrorist threat.

Investigators said, however, that there was no information of any concrete plans for an attack.

Read more: Germany's domestic intelligence agency warns of IS sympathizers

Watch video 05:07 What next for Islamic State?

Looking at evidence

Officials said police secured large amounts of evidence in connection with the arrests, including mobile phones and computers.

The three men, who all live in the Saarlouis region, came to Germany in 2015 as refugees from Syria's civil war and applied for asylum.

The investigations into the men were triggered by an employee of a refugee center outside Saarland who reported having seen a video in which one of the men was seen with hand grenades and other combat weapons while dressed in a combat uniform.

tj/rt (AFP, dpa)

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Nieuwsuur reports the Dutch government has provided funding over the past two years to Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Shamiya, despite Dutch prosecutors describing the group as a "salafist and jihadistic" terror group and preparing to bring a man to trial next week accused of being a member.