Berlin Group 21 recently raised concerns about the OPCW and its investigation into the Douma attack, garnering signatures for a “Statement of Concern”
But it has since faced questions about relations with another group known for conspiracy theories bellingcat.com/news/2021/05/1…
But it has since faced questions about relations with another group known for conspiracy theories bellingcat.com/news/2021/05/1…
Last month Newlines magazine reported that BG21, which was set up by two former diplomats and an Ivy League academic, was a “front” organisation for another body, the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and the Media (WGSPM) newlinesmag.com/reportage/how-…
An email sting earlier this year, meanwhile, saw a member of the WGSPM boast of arranging media coverage for BG21 to an individual he mistakenly took to be a Russian intelligence officer.
The WGSPM has been widely criticised for the activities of its members, some of whom have dabbled in damaging conspiracy theories relating to Syria and beyond
BG21 posted a statement after the Newlines piece that said accusations it was a front were “false” and that it was “entirely independent of any other group or organisation.” 
Those claims were similarly rejected in interviews with Hans von Sponeck, one of the founders of BG21, and Piers Robinson, a co-founder of the WGSPM.
Yet other elements of Bellingcat’s conversations with von Sponeck and Robinson reveal what would appear to be close contact between the pair over the activities of BG21 and engagement around the Statement of Concern.
Robinson has previously given praise to a book that suggested explosives were used to destroy the World Trade Center on 9/11 and claimed that COVID-19 was a low-lethality virus no different to annual flu outbreaks huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/piers-ro…
Yet it transpires he has access to the BG21 website and had looked at the Statement of Concern during its drafting.
Robinson told Bellingcat he doesn’t run the BG21 site and his role in the statement was not in any way significant nor was it “a secret”
Robinson told Bellingcat he doesn’t run the BG21 site and his role in the statement was not in any way significant nor was it “a secret”
Von Sponeck also told Bellingcat that Robinson had helped identify people to sign the statement of concern. Although, he said Robinson was just one of many that he and his fellow founders consulted with
Bellingcat was separately told by Lord West, a member of the UK parliament’s intelligence and security committee, that he was invited to sign the Statement of Concern by Peter Ford, a former UK ambassador to Syria.
Ford is currently co-chair of the British Syrian Society (BSS), a group founded and co-chaired by the father-in-law of Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad. It is unclear how Ford became aware of the Statement of Concern. When contacted by Bellingcat, he said: “Don’t call me again”
Lord West also said he was unaware of Ford’s association with the BSS. Ford has previously said his role at the BSS is unpaid.
Read the full article by @N_Waters89 here, including many more details on the activities of WGSPM and how one of its members revealed too much to a fake persona he took to be a Russian intelligence officer bellingcat.com/news/2021/05/1…
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