White Helmets boss denies terror links
Russia Today: In a talk with RT, White Helmets’ boss vehemently denied any links to terrorists, instead employing controversy theories to blame Syria as well as Russia for “fake news” attributed to his notorious group.
Raed al-Saleh, the head of the White Helmets did his utmost to defend the controversial organization’s public image during a contentious talk with Afshin Rattansi, host of RT’s Going Underground show. Speaking via Skype from Istanbul, he set the tone for the entire interview, claiming 150,000 people were saved by the Western-funded organization “from under the rubble during the aerial bombing from Syrian regime and Russia.”
Al-Saleh and Rattansi spoke on the heels of reports that multiple White Helmets members were provided free passage from Jordan via Israel. Commenting on the news, he acknowledged “we currently have around 3,700 volunteers who are working in the areas that we are able to access,” but denied to disclose whereabouts of the evacuees, only briefly telling “they are still in Jordan.”
Meanwhile, controversies surround the White Helmets’ operations in Syria, with locals accusing the self-proclaimed civil defense group of running a terrorist support. At some point of the Syrian war, they have also been filmed helping a group of unidentified militants disposing the bodies of beheaded Syrian Army soldiers.
When repeatedly asked about alleged terrorist connections, al-Saleh avoided giving straightforward answers, saying: “When we established the organization, there were rules and regulations in relation to the international humanitarian law.” The White Helmets boss said, however, that “we saw no infiltrations [by terrorists].”
He then tried to pin the blame on Damascus and Moscow for targeting civilians, claiming again the White Helmets evolved into an “international humanitarian entity working for the service of the Syrian people and to save them from under the rubble after the shelling by Syrian regime and Russia.”