£12M AID AXED IN ‘CASH FOR JIHADIS’ STORM
A £12MILLION foreign aid project was halted last night amid fears some of the money has gone to jihadis.
The British taxpayers’ cash was handed over to set up a civilian police force in Syria.
But one Al Qaeda-backed group has selected officer recruits while another extremist cell siphoned off cash in a protection racket. It also emerged that a number of employees on the payroll of the Free Syrian Police were either fictitious or dead. And its officers have stood and watched as women were stoned to death.
Boris Johnson pulled the plug on the project yesterday. Back in April however the Foreign Secretary announced it would receive an extra £4million on top of the £8million awarded since 2014. Much of the money was handed over in bags of cash.
Britain is one of six countries funding the community-led policing scheme in opposition-held regions of Syria.
A Panorama investigation tonight will raise grave concerns about the way it is run by Adam Smith International, a foreign aid contractor which has been accused of making excess profits
‘Only the tip of the iceberg’
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But its documents also revealed that some police in the Aleppo area were made to hand over cash to an extremist group. The report – dated July 2016 – warned that a fifth of salaries were being diverted to Nour Al Din Al Zinki ‘to pay for the military and security support that Zinki provides to the five stations in areas under its control’.
Officers worked with the group even though it is accused of atrocities including beheading prisoners.
ASI said it had strict guidelines to ensure detainees were treated fairly and that payments to the police stations involved were stopped in August 2016.
The Panorama documentary discovered evidence that the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda – Jabhat Al Nusra – chose recruits at a station in Idlib province. The Free Syrian Police has provided support for Al Nusra courts that hand out extreme punishments.
Its officers were present when two women were stoned to death near Sarmin in December 2014.
ASI said the policemen who attended the stoning were not formally under the force’s control and have since been removed.
It claimed that at the station where Al Nusra picked officers, only six people with alleged links to extremist networks were employed from a headcount of 3,400 policemen.
On the diversion of funds, it said there was evidence that only $2,000 had fallen into the hands of extremists and none of it came from British taxpayers.
Tory MP Crispin Blunt said the Free Syrian Police should not be supporting extremist courts. He said: ‘ The idea that British taxpayers’ money was associated with that would of course be wholly abhorrent.’
Kate Osamor, Labour’s international development spokesman, said: ‘Spent properly, Britain’s aid budget achieves incredible results and we must not shy away from working in conflict-affected countries. But if these allegations are true, British taxpayers will be rightly outraged. This investigation is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg.’
ASI pulled out of the bidding process for new contracts with the aid department earlier this year fol- lowing criticism over poor practices, rising profits and bloated salaries. Interim chief Jonathan Pell last night said: ‘We are incredibly proud of the acumen and dedication of the Access to Justice and Community Security (AJACS) team, delivering practical help and hope to people in one of the most difficult environments in the world.
‘There are high risks working in a fragile state in civil war. We mitigate those risks under the close control of the donors, and support AJACS because of its success in ending human rights abuses and establishing the rule of law in Syrian society. ASI will continue to vigorously refute the BBC’s claims and defend the integrity of one of its most important projects.’
A Foreign Office spokesman said the project had helped train 3,500 officers across 60 police stations, helping 1.6million Syrians. The spokesman added: ‘We take any allegations of co- operation with terrorist groups and of human rights abuses extremely seriously and the Foreign Office has suspended this programme while we investigate these allegations.
‘We believe that such work in Syria is important to protect our national security interest but of course we reach this judgment carefully given that in such a challenging environment no activity is without risk.’
Ministers have been under pressure to improve the way Britain spends its foreign budget since Theresa May announced she would keep to David Cameron’s controversial target of 0.7 per cent of national income.
The development budget rose to £13.4billion last year. ÷Panorama will be shown tonight at 7:30pm on BBC One