Ex-Syrian commander claims Assad ordered execution of missing US journalist Tice: BBC
LONDON: A former Syrian commander who allegedly oversaw the detention of missing American journalist Austin Tice claims that ex-President Bashar Assad personally ordered Tice's execution, according to a BBC investigation released over the weekend.
The report centers on Maj. Gen. Bassam al-Hassan, a former commander in the elite Republican Guard and one of Assad's most trusted advisers. According to the BBC, Hassan spoke to FBI and CIA officials about Tice's fate during at least three meetings in Lebanon, one of which reportedly took place inside the US embassy compound.
Hassan, who also served as chief of staff of the National Defense Forces — a pro-regime paramilitary group previously linked by the BBC to Tice's abduction — allegedly oversaw the facility where the journalist was held. Sources close to Hassan said that in 2013, following Tice's brief escape attempt, he was instructed to execute him.
According to the sources, Hassan initially sought to dissuade Assad but ultimately relayed the order, which was then carried out. The detail of Tice's escape attempt aligns with prior reports, including a Reuters investigation citing witnesses who recalled seeing 'an American man, dressed in ragged clothing' attempting to escape through the streets of Damascus' upscale Mazzeh neighborhood — believed to be Tice's final sighting.
Tice disappeared in August 2012 while reporting on Syria's civil war in the Damascus suburbs, just days after his 31st birthday. A former US Marine captain who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tice was working as a freelance journalist while studying for a law degree at Georgetown University. He was abducted while preparing to leave the country to go to Lebanon.
For years, the Assad regime has denied any knowledge of Tice's whereabouts or involvement in his disappearance. However, the BBC previously reported that classified documents obtained during its investigation supported long-standing suspicions by US authorities that Damascus was directly involved. The latest investigation suggests that Tice was held in the notorious Tahouneh prison, a regime-controlled facility in Damascus. Hassan is also said to have provided the US officials with possible locations for Tice's remains, though efforts to verify his claims are ongoing.
'There is not anything, at least at this time, to corroborate what (Hassan) is saying,' a source familiar with the investigation told The Washington Post. 'The flip side of it is, with his role in the regime, it's hard to understand why he would want to lie about something like that.'
Despite the recent developments, skepticism persists. Western intelligence officials expressed doubt that Assad would have issued a direct kill order, noting that the Syrian president typically relies on intermediaries to insulate himself from such decisions.
Speaking to the BBC during a recent trip to Lebanon, Tice's mother, Debra Tice, said she believed Hassan may have told US officials 'a story they wanted to hear' to help close the case.
'I am his mother. I still believe that my son is alive and that he will walk free,' she said.
A former NDF member also told the BBC that Tice was viewed as a valuable bargaining chip for possible negotiations with Washington.
According to the report, Hassan fled to Iran following the collapse of the Syrian regime in December. He was later contacted by phone and invited to Lebanon to meet US officials, who assured him he would not be detained.
The BBC revelations come on the heels of an interview published by The Economist with Safwan Bahloul, a three-star general who previously served in Syria's external intelligence agency and was tasked with interrogating Tice.
Bahloul, who speaks fluent English and has lived in Britain, said Hassan assigned him to question Tice and handed him the American's iPhone. His mission was to determine whether Tice was 'merely a journalist' or 'an American spy.'
Bahloul also said Hassan orchestrated the recording of a video, released on YouTube in September 2012, that showed Tice blindfolded and surrounded by armed men. US intelligence later concluded that the video had been staged by the regime to suggest that Tice was being held by Islamic militants.
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