A top Syrian general under President Bashar al-#Assad before his ouster has surfaced in Lebanon, where he told US investigators that #AustinTice, an American #journalist who went missing in 2012, was dead & provided the possible site of his grave….
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/15/us/politics/syria-austin-tice-journalist.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
In meetings w/ the #FBI & #CIA, the fmr commander, #BassamHassan, a top adviser to #Assad who was accused of facilitating the country’s #ChemicalWeapons attacks on #civilians, disclosed in recent weeks that Assad, the #authoritarian leader who was toppled in Dec, had ordered the killing of #AustinTice. The #journalist was kidnapped 13 years ago at a checkpoint in a suburb of Damascus.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
For more than a decade, the #UnitedStates has hunted for information about Mr. Tice’s whereabouts, holding out hope that he survived Syria’s brutal prison system, where torture and killings were routine. The rapid collapse of #Assad’s reign after more than a half-century of family rule helped renew the search for #AustinTice, with American investigators believing they might finally learn his fate.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
…American #intelligence agencies have long believed that #BassamHassan played a critical role in #AustinTice’s imprisonment. His name was one of several the #Biden admin gave the rebel group that toppled the #Assad Syrian govt in the hopes it could obtain information about Tice. Hassan, American officials believe, could provide clues about not only Tice but also other matters of importance to the #UnitedStates & its allies.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
A fmr snr American ofcl familiar w/ the #AustinTice case said there should be skepticism about what #BassamHassan told investigators because of a possible desire to cast blame on #Assad.
Assad fled to Moscow after the collapse of his government, leaving behind some of his most ardent supporters. Several Syrian & Lebanese ofcls w/ties to the former al-Assad government expressed similar concerns over Hassan’s testimony.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
…#BBCNews also reported that #BassamHassan had told #intelligence ofcls that #AustinTice had been executed.
As one of #Assad’s closest #security advisers, Hassan is accused of helping orchestrate attacks involving a lethal #NerveAgent in 2013 in the Ghouta suburbs outside Damascus. fmr ofcls under Assad & American ofcls have also described Hassan as a close partner of #Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in #Syria, w/direct insights into Iranian activities in the region.
#BassamHassan has long drawn the attention of the authorities abroad. In 2014, Hassan was sanctioned by the US over #weapons procurement. In 2023, French investigative judges issued an international warrant for Hassan, accusing him of helping organize the 2013 attacks involving #SarinGas through his role coordinating between #Assad & the production of #ChemicalWeapons at the Syrian Scientific Research Center.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
On Dec 8, 2024, after a rebel coalition entered Damascus, #BassamHassan escaped to #Iran w/ the help of Iranian ofcls….
…Hassan willingly traveled from Iran to #Lebanon & interacted w/ #US & Lebanese ofcls without coercion.…Hassan was not being detained, acc/to former Lebanese & Syrian ofcls, who added that he appeared to be living freely in an upscale neighborhood of #Beirut, going out to dinner w/his wife & seeking medical care for an illness.
Over a period of time since late April, #BassamHassan was interviewed by #FBI & #CIA. It is not clear how many times the investigators spoke to Hassan, or the extent of the info he provided about #AustinTice or other aspects of #Syria’s #ChemicalWeapons program or other activities under #Assad.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
Diplomatic efforts, along with a #CIA task force & secret outreach by the spy agency’s ofcls, failed to turn up info about #AustinTice. #US ofcls were deflated after the govt fell, & they were not able to unravel the mystery of Tice’s abduction even with a sizable reward & US spy agencies focused on #Syria. The country’s new president, Ahmed al-#Shara, also agreed to help search for Tice as part of his overtures to Washington.
#AustinTice, a former Marine who graduated from the #Georgetown School of #ForeignService & was also enrolled in #law school there, was abducted in August 2012 after traveling to a suburb of Damascus. Weeks later, he appeared blindfolded in a video w/masked men carrying assault rifles. Former American ofcls believe that the video might have been a ruse to blame militants for his abduction.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Assad #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
#AustinTice escaped weeks later but was recaptured by one of the security branches. A witness told the #FBI that #BasssmHassan was involved in Tice’s capture & imprisonment. After his recapture, Tice was placed in a detention facility under the control of Hassan, who was in charge of #Assad’s security….
In 2022 & 2023, snr #Biden ofcls traveled to Oman to meet w/ Imad Moustapha, a fmr Syrian ambassador.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Assad #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
The #US ofcls confronted Moustapha with a document showing that the Syrians had #AustinTice in their custody in 2012. The document, one of the US ofcls said, was the equivalent of what is known in law enforcement circles as a “BOLO” — or be on the lookout — as Syrian ofcls combed Damascus looking for Tice after his escape.
#journalism #WarCorrespondence #Assad #Syria #WarCrimes #InternationalLaw
It was the best piece of evidence…that #Syria had…been holding #AustinTice, despite never acknowledging…[it] & failing to respond to diplomatic efforts to free him.
This month, BBC News reported it had obtained a trove of #intelligence files that showed he had been held in prison in Damascus. In interviews, a fmr Syrian general, Safwan Bahloul, said he had interrogated Tice, the first time any Syrian ofcl had disclosed having had contact w/ him.
#Assad #WarCrimes
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn84z5e8jjzo
A doctor close to #BassamHassan has also acknowledged treating #AustinTice.
Early in #Syria’s civil war, Hassan worked w/ #Iran to help establish a paramilitary force known as the National Defense Forces [#NDF], which received funding & training from Tehran. The NDF…was modeled after Iran’s #Basij, a plainclothes #militia under the umbrella of the Revolutionary Guards [#IRGC].
The BBC reported that Tice had been held by the NDF at one point.
Nonilex
