ISTANBUL, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A former British military intelligence officer as claimed by Russia, who was also co-founder of the White Helmets group in Syria, was found dead in central Istanbul on Monday.
The Istanbul governor's office announced in a statement that "administrative and judicial investigations were launched into the death of the British citizen, James Gustaf Edward Le Mesurier."
The statement noted that the incident happened early in the morning in the Kemankes Karamustafa Pasa neighborhood in Beyoglu district.
The body of Le Mesurier was detected on the street by neighborhood residents, who came to a nearby mosque for morning prayer, according to press reports.
The wife of Le Mesurier told police that the incident happened while she was sleeping, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
"He recently started to use sleeping and psychological medication due to extreme stress disorder," the agency quoted the wife as saying.
According to press reports, police believed that Le Mesurier died after falling from his house.
The Russian Foreign Ministry tweeted on Nov. 8 that "the White Helmets' co-founder, James Le Mesurier, is a former agent of Britain's MI6," saying he had connections to "terrorist groups."
The Syrian government listed the White Helmets as a terror group used by the United States and its Western allies to practice terrorism, particularly in the alleged chemical attacks that were staged to tarnish the image of the Syrian government and prolong the Syrian war.
