Bassam Hassan, a top general under Assad, reportedly gave news regarding American who went missing in 2012
A high-ranking Syrian general under former president Bashar al-Assad who is now in Lebanon has reportedly told US investigators that the American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in 2012, is dead.
Bassam Hassan was a top security adviser once accused of facilitating chemical attacks on civilians. In a recent meeting with the FBI and CIA, he claimed that Assad – who was ousted in December and has since fled to Moscow – ordered Tice’s execution, according to the New York Times and the BBC, which first reported the allegation. Each media organization cited sources familiar with the matter. Hassan’s claims remain unverified.
Tice, a former marine who had done freelance journalism for the Washington Post and CBS, among other outlets, was abducted at a Damascus checkpoint in August 2012 when he was 31 years old. He briefly escaped but was recaptured and reportedly held in a detention center under Hassan’s control.
US officials have long suspected Hassan’s involvement in Tice’s imprisonment. Hassan is also seen as a valuable source on other US intelligence interests, including Syria’s chemical weapons program and Iranian activity in the region.
