Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Syria
Syria: Dutch Gov't Prosecuted Levantine Front Member, then Admitted they Supported It

Syria: Dutch Gov’t Prosecuted Levantine Front Member, then Admitted they Supported It

TeleSur 09/13/2018

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

The government of the Netherlands is facing widespread criticism from lawmakers and citizens after it was revealed it had supported a Syrian rebel group, which Dutch prosecutors had labeled a ‘terrorist’ organization.

The revelation came in a news report on Nieuwsuur, a current affairs program on public broadcasters NOS and NTR Monday. According to the report, the Netherlands gave “non-lethal assistance” (NLA) to 22 armed rebel groups. One of the groups has been identified as Jabhat al-Shamiya, which had been supplied with pick-up trucks, uniforms and other equipment last year.

At the time the assistance was given, Dutch officials in the port city of Rotterdam were prosecuting a suspected militant for belonging to Jabhat al-Shamiya, which has been labeled in Dutch court papers as a “Salafist and jihadist movement striving for a caliphate”.

Following the broadcasting of the report, parliamentarians demand answers describing the group as nothing more than a “criminal organization with a terrorist aim.” Jabhat al-Shamiya, also known as the Levant Front, is an umbrella group for rebel fighters based in northern Syria.

Politicians from both the opposition and Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s ruling coalition demanded clarity. “This (news report) screams for an answer,” Christian Democratic Appeal party MP Pieter Omtzigt said Monday. He also said the country’s Cabinet or Rutte himself should provide an answer by Tuesday.

Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, MP for the progressive D66 party, described the report as “shocking”.

Monday’s report came just days after Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok announced that the government was cutting all support to ‘moderate’ opposition groups in Syria.

“Resulting from the regime’s reclamation of large parts of Syria and the shrinking space for moderate opposition, the cabinet has decided … to stop the NLA programme,” Blok said in a letter sent to Parliament last Friday.

Via TeleSur

—–

Bonus video added by Informed Comment:

Wochit News from Dec. 2016: “Syrian Rebels in Aleppo Form New Alliance”

Filed Under: Syria

About the Author

TeleSur is a Latin American multimedia platform oriented to lead and promote the unification of the peoples of the SOUTH. It is a multi-state funded, Latin American terrestrial and satellite television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela. It is sponsored primarily by the government of Venezuela, but also by Uruguay, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba.

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Trump Brings back Torture, Big Time
  • Israeli Minister: 'Gaza must be in Ruins for Decades,' as Airstrike Kills Children seeking Water
  • Solar Power outstripped all others in Europe last Month for First Time
  • Egypt brings Africa's Largest Wind Farm Online on Red Sea Coast, Powers 1.1 mn. Households
  • What do the Bible, the Quran and the Torah say about the Justification for War?

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved