Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Dutch Government Faces Protest Over Syrian Rebel Support

from TeleSUR

The government of the Netherlands is facing widespread criticism from lawmakers and citizens after it was revealed it had supported a Syrian rebel group, which Dutch prosecutors had labeled a ‘terrorist’ organization.

The revelation came in a news report on Nieuwsuur a current affairs program on public broadcasters NOS and NTR Monday. According to the report, the Netherlands gave “non-lethal assistance” (NLA) to 22 armed rebel groups. One of the groups has been identified as Jabhat al-Shamiya, which had been supplied with pick-up trucks, uniforms and other equipment last year.

During the time the assistance was given, however, Dutch officials in the port city of Rotterdam were prosecuting a suspected militant for belonging to Jabhat al-Shamiya, which has been labeled in Dutch court papers as  "Salafist and jihadist movement striving for a caliphate".

Following the broadcasting of the report, Parliamentarians demand answers describing the group as nothing more than a "criminal organization with a terrorist aim." Jabhat al-Shamiya, also known as the Levant Front, is an umbrella group for rebel fighters based in northern Syria...

[read more here]

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