[News] How MI6 built Syria’s extremist police

[Anti-Imperialist News]

english.almayadeen.net 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/opinion/how-mi6-built-syria-s-extremist-police> 



  How MI6 built Syria’s extremist police

Kit Klarenberg
October 16, 2025
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Kit Klarenberg uncovers how MI6 covertly built, funded, and legitimized 
extremist groups in Syria, creating the so-called “Free Syrian Police” 
and White Helmets as cover operations for Al-Qaeda’s rise and the West’s 
post-Assad agenda.

  * Documents submitted to the UK Foreign Office by ARK - founded by
    MI6's Alistair Harris - noted the FSP were “revolutionary entities
    who share a general ideological affinity with the Syrian rebels.”
    (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)
    <https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2025/10/16/daeb7b7e-a4d6-4606-9f3d-b6e1a6fa6801.jpg?width=1000>
    Documents submitted to the UK Foreign Office by ARK - founded by
    MI6's Alistair Harris - noted the FSP were “revolutionary entities
    who share a general ideological affinity with the Syrian rebels.”
    (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

On September 19^th 
<https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/speech-by-sir-richard-moore-chief-of-sis-19-september-2025>, 
in a speech marking the end of his five-year tenure as MI6 chief, 
Richard Moore hailed the achievements of Britain’s foreign spying agency 
under his watch. Key among the stated gains was “the end of 53 years of 
the Assads in Syria.” He openly admitted MI6 “forged a relationship” 
with HTS, Damascus’ Al-Qaeda and ISIS-tied presumptive rulers - “a year 
or two before they toppled Bashar.” Moore went on to boast:

“Syria is a good example of where, if you can get ahead of events, it 
really helps when they suddenly, unexpectedly move at a faster pace. 
This nimbleness is a fundamental requirement for MI6 - and I think we 
remain pretty good at it. John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, while 
discussing a piece of joint business, said to me recently: ‘You guys can 
really hustle.’”

*Al Mayadeen English*//has previously 
<https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/opinion/how-mi6-helped-hts-seize-syria> 
exposed how HTS was groomed for power for years prior to its violent 
palace coup in December 2024 by Inter-Mediate, an MI6-adjacent 
consulting firm run by Jonathan Powell. A key architect of the criminal 
2003 Anglo-American Iraq invasion, he now serves as British Prime 
Minister Keir Starmer’s national security adviser, coincidentally taking 
up the position mere days before HTS illegitimately proclaimed 
themselves Syria’s government. It’s been subsequently revealed 
<https://www.kitklarenberg.com/p/mi6-embedded-with-syrias-al-qaeda> that 
Inter-Mediate has maintained a dedicated office in Syria’s Presidential 
Palace ever since.

Moore’s fresh admissions, while vague, offer further confirmation that 
London’s foreign spying agency has a longstanding relationship with HTS, 
which remains 
<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syria-country-policy-and-information-notes/country-policy-and-information-note-security-situation-syria-july-2025-accessible> 
a proscribed terrorist group under British law. A key, confirmed 
mechanism 
<https://thegrayzone.com/2024/12/26/leaked-files-uk-syria-jolanis-hts/> 
by which MI6 entrenched HTS’ power in north west Syria over the years 
before the extremist group’s seizure of power was by financing and 
managing, via cutouts, “moderate opposition service provision”. This 
took the form of entities including the infamous White Helmets, which 
supposedly provided “demonstrations of a credible alternative” to Bashar 
Assad’s government.

While the clandestine efforts were ostensibly intended to weaken HTS’ 
hold on power and push “moderate” groups, leaked documents indicate 
British spooks were well-aware these initiatives were cementing the 
group’s credibility as a governance actor, assisting its “growing 
influence”, and meant many Syrians regarded HTS as “synonymous with 
opposition to Assad.” Eerily, the same documents note the group and its 
armed affiliates - including Al-Qaeda - were “less likely to attack 
opposition entities that are receiving support” from British 
intelligence, such as the White Helmets.

We are now left to ponder whether British-run “service providers” were 
explicitly left alone /because /of MI6’s secret relationship with HTS. 
In this context, the earliest and most obvious indication of a dark 
alliance between London and Syria’s new rulers may date back to January 
2019, when HTS took power outright in north west Syria. Almost instantly 
<https://syriadirect.org/free-syrian-police-in-northwestern-syria-to-dissolve-amid-hts-takeover/>, 
the Free Syrian Police, a British-created “moderate opposition service” 
provider, was formally dissolved. Its members were then invited to 
continue their activities under HTS’ banner.


    ‘Revolutionary Entities’

Like the White Helmets, the FSP were components of a wider effort by 
London to establish a series of statelets across occupied Syria, 
complete with parallel governance structures staffed by locals trained 
and funded by Britain, the EU, and US. Western propaganda and media 
reporting - heavily influenced 
<https://thecradle.co/articles/handing-out-sweets-how-british-propaganda-steers-and-manages-events-in-west-asia> 
by MI6 - universally portrayed these breakaway colonies as “moderate” 
success stories. In reality, they were deeply chaotic and dangerous, run 
by murderous violent factions, often under obscenely strict 
interpretations of Sharia Law.

In March 2017, the /BBC/ published a fawning profile 
<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39458062> of the FSP, noting 
its British funding, and claiming the group “demonstrates to Syrians 
that it is not necessary to carry weapons in order to administer law and 
order in the country.” The British state broadcaster repeatedly 
stressed, the FSP “does not co-operate with extremist groups.” However, 
nine months later, it was revealed 
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42217132> that London’s “moderate” police 
force enjoyed intimate relationships with multiple extremist groups, 
including HTS forerunner 
<https://www.csis.org/programs/former-programs/warfare-irregular-threats-and-terrorism-program-archives/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir> 
Jabhat al-Nusra.

Several FSP stations were found to be closely linked to and take 
directions from extremist courts run by these militants, which executed 
citizens who violated local extremist legal codes. FSP operatives were 
also not only present when women were stoned to death for disobeying 
al-Nusra’s extreme codes, but even closed roads to allow executions to 
take place. Meanwhile, portions of sums sent to the FSP by its foreign 
sponsors were regularly handed over to extremist factions for “military 
and security support”.

While these disclosures caused a scandal, and British funding for the 
FSP was temporarily suspended, it was reinstated 
<https://web.archive.org/web/20201127003335/https:/adamsmithinternational.com/news/funding-resumes-for-free-syrian-police/> 
within mere weeks, sparking outcry 
<https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/feb/20/uk-revives-free-syrian-police-aid-scheme-alleged-payments-syrian-jihadists> 
among aid experts. Officials justified their decision on unstated 
“mitigating context” to the revelations, and the issues in question 
being “already known” by the Foreign Office. Indeed, leaked documents 
reviewed by *Al Mayadeen English* indicate close collaboration with 
extremist groups and courts was hardwired into the FSP from the group’s 
inception, and not concealed from donors.

The documents, submitted to the Foreign Office by ARK - founded by MI6 
veteran Alistair Harris - noted the FSP were “revolutionary entities who 
share a general ideological affinity with the Syrian rebels,” conducting 
“rudimentary policing operations” in opposition-controlled territory. 
FSP stations varied significantly “in terms of their effectiveness, 
their mandate and their overall level of organisation” in the areas 
comprising their beat. “Their authority” was dependent on “several 
factors, the most important of which” were:

“The strength of the relationship between an FSP station and local armed 
groups; the centrality of an FSP station in the work of a local rebel 
court or other judicial structure; the sophistication and maturity of an 
FSP station’s overarching command structure.”


    ‘Direct Engagement’

The leaks further state, “FSP networks enjoy the strongest relations 
with more moderate Syrian rebel groups.” Yet, chief among “key armed 
groups that have established relationships with FSP stations” was Nur 
al-Din al-Zinki. The group was said to have greatly “empowered” FSP 
offices across occupied Aleppo, establishing the force “as primary 
policing bodies in towns in which it is strong.” In reality, Nur al-Din 
al-Zinki didn’t adhere to any meaningful definition of the term “moderate”.

During the initial years of the foreign-fomented Syrian civil war, the 
group committed countless horrendous atrocities, including beheading 
<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36843990> a Palestinian 
teenager in 2016. Its fighters subsequently joined 
<https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/syriasource/nour-al-din-al-zenki-movement-how-a-once-moderate-group-joined-fateh-al-sham/> 
HTS en masse. The readiness of ARK - and by extension British 
intelligence - to rub shoulders with dangerous armed elements is writ 
large in another leaked file, outlining potential risks to the project. 
If “armed actors” denied the FSP “operating space”, ARK would conduct 
“direct engagement” with the relevant militants to resolve the issue.

Other hazards included almost inevitable submission of “fraudulent 
invoices” by FSP operatives, and “significant physical risk” to them, 
“including possible assassination of police or justice actors.” Still, 
the British were so keen on the project, millions were pumped 
<https://www.declassifieduk.org/revealed-the-uk-has-spent-350-million-promoting-regime-change-in-syria/> 
into the force over many years, with sophisticated communications 
equipment and vehicles provided. ARK also looked ahead to rebel groups 
increasing their “influence and territorial reach” in Syria, believing 
this would “[yield] benefits for the FSP” and expand its sphere of 
operations.

Fast forward to today, and courtesy of HTS, the British-created FSP is 
now Syria’s national police force 
<https://www.ispionline.it/en/publication/rebuilding-syrias-security-military-and-police-forces-as-the-u-s-seeks-withdrawal-218388>. 
Ever since Assad’s fall, they have acted accordingly, brutally 
repressing <https://archive.ph/umr6f> internal dissent, while standing 
by as the new government’s militants massacre 
<https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165649> Alawites and other 
religious minorities in the country. Just as Inter-Mediate’s office in 
Damascus’ Presidential palace raises grave questions about the extent of 
London’s control over HTS, we must ask who all past beneficiaries of 
“moderate opposition service provision” in the country are truly working 
for.

As /The National /reported in February 
<https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2025/02/19/a-new-syria-can-be-built-by-the-dedicated-teams-i-have-seen-in-damascus/>, 
the White Helmets have been formally invited by Syria’s HTS-run Health 
Ministry to “run the emergency services countrywide.” The creation of 
such groups years prior to Assad’s ouster is a palpable example of the 
ability of “hustlers” in British intelligence to “get ahead of events” 
in Moore’s phrase, and ensure MI6 has the people, organisations and 
structures in place to effectively take over countries if and when an 
enemy government falls.

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