Telegraph Parades UK-Coddled Syrian “Defector” in PR Push

Tony Cartalucci
Activist Post

Unemployed, has lived in UK hotel for over a year, parroting Western talking points – strains limits of credibility – admittedly lodged at the expense of the UK government.

Image: “Former Syrian diplomat” Khaled al-Ayoubi, fed, clothed, and housed for the past year by the British government “outside of London,” represents the latest unqualified appeal to authority by the propagandists at the London Telegraph. (Photo: JULIAN SIMMONDS) 

Attempting to lend credibility to Western “doubts” over a Syrian-Russian weapons deal meant to impede American aggression, the London Telegraph has once again paraded in front of the public yet another Syrian “defector.” Previously, it was self-confessed Al Qaeda collaborator Nawaf Fares, this time it is “former diplomat” Khaled al-Ayoubi.

Before parroting predictable Western talking points, the Telegraph attempts to flesh out their new character, describing him in their article, “Syria: Assad cannot be trusted on any chemical weapons promises, says his former diplomat,” as:

Mr al-Ayoubi is an ethnic Kurd who joined the Syrian diplomatic service in 2001. He came to London as second secretary at the Syrian embassy in February 2011 but was made charge d’affaires in May last year after his predecessor was booted out of the country in response to the massacre committed by Syrian forces in Houla. 

The Syrian ambassador, Sami al-Khiyami, had been withdrawn in the March that year. It left Mr al-Ayoubi as the most senior Syrian diplomat in the UK. 

But he defected in July last year, saying he could no longer defend the regime, and went in to hiding. 

He has only gone public now because of the horrors he witnessed in last month’s chemical attack on a suburb of Damascus which is believed to have killed more than 1,400 people, including 400 children.

It is not entirely clear what the Telegraph means by “witnessed” since al-Ayoubi has apparently been “hiding” in the UK since his “defection.”

What raises suspicions further regarding yet another tenuous Telegraph narrative is that al-Ayoubi is described as unemployed, yet lodging in a UK hotel, presumably for the past year since his defection.

It is also claimed that the “Syrian intelligence service” made death threats against al-Ayoubi after his defection, but this is never verified, and it is just as likely these “Syrians” were MI6 agents coaxing al-Ayoubi into his current role as compromised fodder for British propaganda.

The Telegraph finally admits that after his “defection” and amidst these alleged death threats:  

He and his family were put under the protection of the Foreign Office and now live in a secret location outside London. 

Meeting him in a hotel room, he said he now suffers from depression because no one is willing to employ him. “I have applied for many, many jobs but as soon as they see I was a Syrian diplomat they do not want to know,” he said.

In other words, we are expected to perceive as credible the parroting of Western talking points regarding Syria by a “defector” admittedly being housed, clothed, and fed by the British government – a man who believes his very life depends on the protection currently being provided by the British government.

The Telegraph piece is yet another incredible piece of propaganda aimed at the lowest intellectual common denominator, hinging on expectations that the general public is incapable of identifying obvious, elementary conflicts of interest – as if al-Ayoubi, whatever his real story may be, is going to refute anything the British government who is housing and “protecting” him says. Additionally, al-Ayoubi has been in the UK for the past year, and is no more qualified than anyone else to speak on the alleged chemical weapon attacks in Damascus, Syria.

The Telegraph even admits that al-Ayoubi only met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad one time:

He once met Assad when he was a diplomat in Greece in 2003 and described him as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character. “He was nice and polite. Very humble but the world now knows what a horrible man he is.”

Despite the Telegraph’s attempt to portray al-Ayoubi as being part of the “upper echelons of the diplomatic circles,” representatives of Syria’s enemies, including current US Secretary of State John Kerry, have had more face time with the Syrian president than al-Ayoubi.

Failing to provide even a single shred of actual evidence to back up any of his claims or unqualified opinions, al-Ayoubi’s interview with the Telegraph is throw-away propaganda that at best simply gives us another troubling look at the inner workings of Western deception.

Tony Cartalucci’s articles have appeared on many alternative media websites, including his own at Land Destroyer Report, Alternative Thai News Network and LocalOrg.

Read other contributed articles by Tony Cartalucci here.