Syria Feature: Propaganda and Shady Characters — How Russia Created Its “Meetings with the Free Syrian Army”

PHOTO: Fahd al-Masri, the self-proclaimed leader of the “National Salvation Front in Syria”

In early October, days after the launch of its bombing campaign inside Syria, Russia began putting out the propaganda line that it was in discussions with the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups. Having initially denied that the FSA existed, Russian officials pursued a divide-and-rule approach which allowed airstrikes on rebels across Syria while claiming the possibility of an accord with an “acceptable” group apart from the Assad regime.

The FSA and the opposition Syrian National Coalition immediately denied the claims. However, some observers speculated that the Russians might have met individuals such as Manaf Tlass, a general and member of President Assad’s inner circle who defected in 2012.

So did Moscow say anything approaching the truth? An investigation by analyst Aron Lund gives the answer: the propaganda is Russia’s reward from a meeting with the self-proclaimed leader — and possibly the only member — of a small Syrian faction and a retired right-wing US General.

The Meeting in Paris

On October 7, as the Russian Foreign Ministry suddenly announced that it would begin talks with the “phantom” FSA, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met three men at the Russian Embassy in Paris: Fahd al-Masri, the coordinator of the “National Salvation Group in Syria”, retired US general Paul Vallely, and his adviser on Middle Eastern affairs, Nagi Najjar.

The Russian media soon elevated Masri to the status of “one of the founders of the Free Syrian Army”, as State-owned Sputnik News proclaimed, “The Free Syrian Army is ready to establish contacts with the Russian leadership.” Masri was also brought up in another Sputnik News article headlined “Russia Reaffirms Readiness to Cooperate With Free Syrian Army.”

By October 25, State news agency RIA Novosti was using al-Masri to support the report that other members of the FSA were ready for “dialogue” as they hoped for Russian “assistance”. Masri was quoted as saying that the two sides “need to facilitate a new meeting, so we could express our position and discuss our joint actions”, a statement eagerly picked up by Iran’s Press TV. The next day, Sputnik News announced, ”Moscow has confirmed that Free Syrian Army (FSA) envoys had visited Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.”

Who is Fahd al-Masri?

A former technician at a TV station controlled by President Assad’s exiled uncle Rifaat and later a talk show host on a London-based anti-Assad satellite station, Fahd al-Masri gained airtime soon after the start of the Syrian uprising as 2011 as a Paris-based commentator for Saudi Arabian outlet al-Arabiya.

Masri then tried to position himself as an FSA spokesman. The efforts were unsuccessful, but he branded himself to media as the representative of a short-lived “FSA Joint Command” while denouncing the official military council of the Free Syrian Army.

The tactic worked. Masri appeared as a purported representative of the FSA or the Syrian opposition on dozens of broadcasters from the BBC to Al Jazeera to Russia’s RT to Fox News and his press releases appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, Lebanon’s Daily Star, and many other newspapers. He even arranged a meeting with UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Paris in August 2012.

The FSA’s military leadership was so concerned that it denied any connection with Masri, who responded with a “Joint Command” statement calling for the arrest of head of the FSA’s Supreme Military Council, General Salim Idriss and later with the claim that the Council had been infiltrated by Hezbollah.

In late March, it appeared Masri had gone too far with too little support. The “Joint Command” issued a statement in which Masri announced his resignation. The Joint Command has never been heard from since.

But Masri continued his e-mails to the media and kept creating organizations. There was the “Preparatory Committee for the Creation of the Independent National Commission for Inspection, Oversight, Accountability, and the Struggle Against Corruption” and then the “Center for Strategic, Military, and Security Studies in Syria”. Finally, in late 2014, he settled on the “National Salvation Group in Syria”.

The US General and his “Intelligence Advisor”

Since he left the military almost 25 years ago, General Paul Vallely has been a political commentator on conservative US website as he runs “a network of patriotic Americans” called Stand Up America. His contributions include the claim that the “corrupt and treasonous” Barack Obama was illegally installed as President through billionaire George Soros and a faked birth certificate, with the mission to turn the US into a socialist country.

Vallely’s advisor Nagi Najjar was a former member of the Lebanese Forces, a right-wing Christian faction in Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, and then has been involved with a variety of Lebanese-Christian, anti-Assad, and pro-Israeli groups. He now is a declared official of the “Syria Opposition Liaison Group”.

In 2013, Vallely and Najjar briefly entered the Syrian spotlight with a trip into the north of the country, where they met with Colonel Riad al-Asaad, who helped created the Free Syrian Army. Since then, however, there has been no apparent connection with Syria’s rebels or opposition.

Opportunity and Propaganda

Far from being a high-profile breakthrough in Syria’s conflict, this is a tale of opportunity shared by the Russian Government and a couple of people trying to wring a bit of fame out of the murky political and military situation.

Moscow gets its propaganda that — even though it is trying to bomb rebels out of existence — it is interested in a political resolution which includes an “opposition”. Masri gets attention as the leader of a made-up opposition group, while Vallely has a few minutes at the table of intrigue and manipulation.

Lund cogently summarizes the biggest gambler, and potential winner, in this shady game:

First, [Moscow] tricks some people into believing that Russia is skillfully peeling away Syrian allies from the USA. It will mostly be people who know nothing about the politics of the Syrian insurgency, but then again, that’s most people.

Secondly, and no less important, Russia’s rivals cannot protest Moscow’s fraudulent claims without engaging in a debate about who actually should represent the FSA in talks with Assad, if it shouldn’t be Masri…or the other candidates suggested by Moscow. Since there is no central FSA leadership and no consensus on which groups should be labeled “FSA”, that’s like trying to nail jelly to a wall….

By rebranding their own allies and all kinds of random exiles as “FSA representatives”, [the Russians] are trying to wring a very useful fiction out of the hands of their enemies or, failing that, to destroy it by adding to the confusion.

A Postscript

On November 5, Russian state media declared that officials of the Foreign and Defense Ministries would soon meet representatives ”28 brigades of the FSA” in Abu Dhabi.

The source of this revelation was Mahmoud al-Effendi, who says he is head of “the Popular Diplomacy Movement”. Few Syrian dissidents know about Effendi, but he has promoted himself in gatherings such as a recent event in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The two Astana meetings are not as much a discussion among the Syrian opposition as a show directed by Moscow, with the actors mainly elderly leftists who seek a compromise with Assad for limited reforms. The added benefit for Russia is that it gave the “Popular Diplomacy Movement” a legitimacy that could later be exploited.

On November 6, almost 50 rebel factions issued a joint statement denying any involvement in a future Abu Dhabi meeting. But Russia already had its headline.