Last week Russia said this Briton was an MI6 spy... now he is dead
Ex-Army officer set up White Helmets aid workers
THE death of a former British Army officer at the centre of a Russian smear campaign is hugely suspicious, friends said last night.
James Le Mesurier, 48, helped found the White Helmets – a group of volunteer rescue workers in rebel-held areas of war-torn Syria.
The father of two was found dead in the street below his apartment in Istanbul in the early hours of yesterday. The Turkish authorities say he fell from the balcony of his home office in a suspected suicide.
But his death comes just days after Russia renewed their attacks on him, its foreign ministry accusing Mr Le Mesurier of being an MI6 spy.
It was the latest in a dirty tricks campaign by Syria and its backers in Moscow designed to disparage the work of the White Helmets. Friends said years of such claims had put significant pressure on Mr Le Mesurier.
Anadolu, a Turkish news outlet, reported that Mr Le Mesurier’s wife told police he was taking medicine, including sleeping pills, to deal with ‘intense stress’.
Karen Pierce, UK permanent representative to the UN, described Mr Le Mesurier last night as a ‘true hero’.
She added: ‘The causes of death at the moment are unclear. I hope the Turkish authorities will be able to investigate thoroughly.
‘The Russian charges against him, that came out of the foreign ministry that he was a spy, are categorically untrue.’
She said the White Helmets had ‘saved countless people from the ravages of Assad’s forces and paramilitaries’. Hamwould ish de Bretton-Gordon, a former Army officer who served with Mr Le Mesurier, said: ‘I was with him a few weeks ago and he seemed fine.
‘We don’t yet know how he died but it is hugely suspicious.
‘I’d be very surprised if he took his own life. I know he was under huge amounts of pressure. He was facing a lot of Syrian and Russian propaganda.’
Speaking about Mr Le Mesurier’s achievements, he said: ‘He probably did more for the humanitarian effort in Syria than anyone else. A lot of people
not be alive today if it wasn’t for him.’
Mr Le Mesurier, who served in the Royal Green Jackets, founded the Mayday Rescue group that trained the White Helmets emergency response group in Syria.
Known officially as Syria Civil Defence, they have been credited with saving thousands of civilians in rebel-held areas hit by bombing from government and Russian forces.
Syrian president Bashar AlAssad and his backers, including the Kremlin, describe them as tools of Western propaganda and Islamist-led insurgents. On Friday, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said: ‘The White Helmets’ cofounder, James Le Mesurier, is a former agent of Britain’s MI6, who has been spotted all around the world, including in the Balkans and the Middle East.
‘His connections to terrorist groups were reported back during his mission in Kosovo.’
The Istanbul governor’s office promised ‘a comprehensive administrative and judicial investigation’ into the death of the OBE holder.
‘Huge amounts of pressure’