British and German media have disclosed that spies from the two European countries are providing insurgents in Syria with intelligence about the movements of Syrian troops.

UK’s Sunday Times [1] quoted an unnamed Syrian official as saying that British spies, based in Cyprus, gather the intelligence. They then pass it on to Turkish and American sources and the Turkish sources ultimately pass on the intelligence to Syrian insurgents.

The disclosure provided further evidence that British intelligence is playing a covert role in the anti-Syria campaign.

The official said Britain has two military bases in Cyprus, one in Dhekelia and the other in Akrotiri.

"British intelligence is observing things closely from Cyprus," the official told the newspaper. "The British are giving the information to the Turks and the Americans...."

"The British monitor communications about movements of the government Army," the official noted.

The British foreign secretary has already confirmed that London is supplying Syrian insurgents with body armor and medical and communications equipment.

Meanwhile, German weekly Bild am Sonntag has revealed that German spooks, stationed off the Syrian coast and also active at a NATO base in Turkey, are providing the insurgents in Syria with information about the movements of government forces.

The paper added that agents from Germany’s foreign intelligence service operate on ships off the Syrian coast and use hi-tech devices that allow them to see movements of Syrian forces 600 kilometers (400 miles) inside the Arab state.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence, while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

The government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed insurgents are foreign nationals.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on August 1 that the country is engaged in a “crucial and heroic” battle that will determine the destiny of the nation.

Source: PressTV

[1] “Syria rebels aided by UK intelligence”, by David Leppard and John Follain, The Sunday Times (UK), 19 August 2012.