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Disinfo: White Helmets do nothing to help civilians

Summary

The White Helmets are cooperating with the terrorist group “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra).

What or who is hiding behind the White Helmets organization and why are they supported by the West? The White Helmets do nothing to help civilians, but instead, they cooperate with terrorists. Riam Dalati, a BBC producer in Syria, recently announced that the recording of the scene in the hospital after the chemical attack in the Syrian Douma region, which was claimed to have occurred in early April 2018, was fabricated.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the White Helmets. No evidence is given to substantiate the claim that they have connections to Al Qaeda and/ or other terrorist groups.

The claim that the White Helmets are the creation of “Western intelligence” is unsubstantiated and constitutes a groundless conspiracy theory.

The BBC didn't deny the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma. The tweet of BBC's producer Riam Dalati, the source of these claims, doesn't deny the chemical attack.

"The producer was expressing his personal opinions about some of the video footage that emerged after the attack but has not claimed that the attack did not happen," the BBC spokesperson told Sputnik.

In the Interim Report of the OPCW fact-finding mission in Syria regarding the incident of alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Douma, it is stated: "Various chlorinated organic chemicals were found in samples from Locations 2 and 4, along with residues of explosive." (p. 2)

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Sputnik Arabic (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 175
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26/11/2019
  • Language/target audience: Arabic
  • Country: Syria
  • Keywords: Douma, White Helmets, BBC, Syrian War

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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Recurring pro-Kremlin conspiracy theory painting the White Helmets as terrorists and shifting blame for chemical attacks in Syria away from the Assad regime.

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