The Foreign Office confirmed on Sunday night that it had suspended access to the justice and community security scheme (Ajacs), which has been running since late 2014, following grave concerns about its management by the British contractor, Adam Smith International. The programme, Jihadis You Pay For, also claims that the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, Jabhat al-Nusra, had handpicked police officers for two stations in Idlib province. Adam Smith International, which strongly denies the allegations, said it had managed taxpayers’ money “effectively to confront terrorism”. In a statement published on Sunday, Adam Smith International said Panorama’s allegations about the Ajacs project were “false and misleading”. An FCO spokesman said: “We take any allegations of co-operation with terrorist groups and of human rights abuses extremely seriously and the Foreign Office has suspended this programme while we investigate these allegations.

Source: The Guardian December 04, 2017 01:07 UTC