US journalist Austin Tice was executed, claims ex-Syria commander

The man accused of being responsible for holding the missing American journalist Austin Tice has claimed that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered his execution, security sources have told the BBC.Major General Bassam Al Hassan is a former commander in the Republican Guards who was part of President Assad's inner circle. He was also the Chief of Staff of the National Defence Forces (NDF), the paramilitary group that a BBC investigation uncovered was responsible for holding Mr Tice after his abduction in 2012.The discovery was made as part of an upcoming BBC Radio 4 podcast about the disappearance of Austin Tice.The American journalist vanished near the Syrian capital of Damascus in August 2012, just days after his 31st birthday. He had been working as a freelance journalist and was leaving Syria when he was abducted. The fallen regime consistently denied knowing of his whereabouts - the BBC investigation showed that was false and that Mr Tice was being held in Damascus.Al Hassan, who is subject to UK, EU, Canadian and US sanctions, oversaw the facility where Mr Tice was held. Earlier this year, he is said to have met with US law enforcement at least three times in Lebanon. Sources claim that at least one of those meetings was in the US embassy complex. During these conversations, he is said to have told investigators from the FBI and CIA that the now-ousted President Assad ordered the execution of missing American journalist Austin Tice. Sources familiar with the conversations told the BBC that Al Hassan claims to have initially tried to dissuade President Assad from killing Mr Tice, but that he eventually passed on this order and that it was carried out. Al Hassan is also understood to have provided possible locations for the journalist's body. Sources familiar with the FBI investigation have said that efforts to confirm the validity of Al Hassan's claims are ongoing, and that a search is intended to happen of the sites where Mr Tice's body could be.Western intelligence sources familiar with the details of Al Hassan's claim that President Assad gave the order to kill Mr Tice are sceptical that he would directly give such an instruction, as he is known for having mechanisms for distancing himself from such actions.The BBC accompanied Mr Tice's mother, Debra, to Beirut as the 13th anniversary of her son's disappearance approaches. Upon finding out that Bassam al Hassan had spoken to US officials, Debra Tice attempted to meet with Al Hassan herself and contacted the US embassy requesting assistance. She told the BBC: "I just want to be able to speak to him as a mother and ask him about my son." Her attempt to meet with Al Hassan was unsuccessful.When asked about the claims by Al Hassan, she said her feeling was that he "fed the FBI a story that they wanted to hear" to help them close the case.Debra Tice has led a tireless and determined campaign to bring her son home and remains committed to finding him. She told the BBC: "I am his mother, I still believe that my son is alive and that he will walk free."Separately, a former member of the NDF with intimate knowledge of Austin Tice's detention told the BBC "that Austin's value was understood" and that he was a "card" that could be played in diplomatic negotiations with the US.Bassam Al Hassan was considered one of President Assad's most trusted advisors. After the Syrian regime's collapse in December, Mr Al Hassan had fled to Iran. Sources close to him have told the BBC that while in Iran, Al Hassan received a phone call and was asked to come to Lebanon to meet with US officials. It is believed that he was given assurances that he would not be detained.For years, consecutive US presidents have said that Mr Tice, a former US Marine captain, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a law student at the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington, was alive. In December 2024, then President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House that "we believe he's alive," and that "we think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet".

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The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the potential for success. — Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 22, 2025 NEWS — Chuck Schumer says Congress must enforce the War Powers Act. 'I'm urging Leader Thune to put it on the Senate floor immediately. I am voting for it and implore all Senators on both sides of the aisle to vote for it.' — Stephen Neukam (@stephen_neukam) June 22, 2025 Ranking Member Jim Himes on Military Action in the Middle East — House Intelligence Committee (@HouseIntelDems) June 22, 2025 In post on X, Himes critiqued Trump's decision as unconstitutional, without approval from Congress, a position endorsed by anti-interventionist Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Massie, the first member of the president's party to condemn the strikes, joined forces with California Democrat Ro Khanna last week to introduce the Iran War Powers Resolution in the House of Representatives 'to prohibit U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war.' 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It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 22, 2025 US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, speaks to the press in Newark, New Jersey, on June 21, 2025 U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) walk to attend a press conference following the U.S. Senate Democrats' weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 10, 2025 Illinois Democrat Sean Casten was another member of the House to call for the President to be ousted. 'This is not about the merits of Iran's nuclear program. No president has the authority to bomb another country that does not pose an imminent threat to the US without the approval of Congress. This is an unambiguous impeachable offense,' Casten wrote, within an hour of Trump announcing the successful attack. This is not about the merits of Iran's nuclear program. No president has the authority to bomb another country that does not pose an imminent threat to the US without the approval of Congress. This is an unambiguous impeachable offense. — Sean Casten (@SeanCasten) June 22, 2025 Yet, a few Democrats split from the bulk of their party and took Trump's side, defending the Commander in Chief's decision to strike Iran. Richie Torres, another New York Democrat, praised the success of the attack without mentioning Trump directly. 'The decisive destruction of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant prevents the dangerous spread of nuclear weapons in the world's most combustible region. No one truly committed to nuclear nonproliferation should mourn the fall of Fordow' Torres wrote. The world can achieve peace in the Middle East, or it can accept a rogue nuclear weapons program—but it cannot have both. The decisive destruction of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant prevents the dangerous spread of nuclear weapons in the world's most combustible region. No one… — Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) June 22, 2025 Pennsylvania's Democrat Senator John Fetterman reposted Trump's announcement of the successful attack, adding 'As I've long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS. Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities.I'm grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.' As I've long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS. Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I'm grateful for and salute the finest military in the world. 🇺🇸 — U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) June 22, 2025 Last week, Fetterman passionately articulated his support for Israel amid its conflict with Iran on Tuesday, encouraging the United States to do all they can to assist its ally in the Middle East. Fetterman also explicitly called for America to use the '30,000 pound bunker busters' on Iran's nuclear sites. I just introduced an Iran War Powers Resolution with @RepRoKhanna to prohibit U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran war. This is not our war. Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution. — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 17, 2025 This is insane. Trump just bombed Iran without Congressional approval, illegally dragging us into war in the Middle East. Have we not learned our lesson!?!? Congress must return to Washington at once to vote on @RepThomasMassie 's War Powers Resolution to stop this madness. — Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) June 22, 2025 Tonight, the President ignored the Constitution by unilaterally engaging our military without Congressional authorization. I join my colleagues in demanding answers from the Administration on this operation which endangers American lives and risks further escalation and… — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 22, 2025 Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) Ranking Member on the House Rules Committee called for his colleagues to immediately 'return to Washington' to vote on Massie and Khanna's War Powers Resolution to 'stop this madness', also calling Trump's action 'insane.'