OMM Redaksiyası
A former Syrian general wanted for crimes against humanity is receiving financial support and protection in Lebanon under an arrangement involving US and Lebanese authorities, a BBC and NPR investigation has found.
Bassam al-Hassan, a senior adviser to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who oversaw the country’s chemical weapons programme, is believed to have fled to Lebanon after the Assad government fell in 2024. The arrangement is reportedly linked to his willingness to provide information about the 2012 abduction of American journalist Austin Tice and other intelligence.
The BBC said it reviewed a record of a meeting involving Hassan, FBI and CIA representatives, and Lebanese security officials. At the meeting, Hassan was offered residency, protection and help with living expenses in return for information, primarily about Tice. Sources familiar with the arrangement told the broadcasters that US authorities channel money to Hassan through an intermediary.
Syrian officials from two branches of the country’s new government told the BBC they want Hassan returned to face trial. They said US authorities want him to remain in Lebanon and that Damascus has little ability to change the situation. Hassan is under US sanctions.
The FBI declined to comment on the investigation’s findings, referring instead to an earlier statement that said its focus remained on establishing the facts of the Tice case and securing his return. The CIA and Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security did not respond to requests for comment, the BBC reported.
Phil Elwood, a spokesperson for the Tice family, said that if the findings were accurate, using US taxpayer money to support someone associated with chemical weapons attacks on Syrian civilians would be “offensive”. He called for Hassan to be returned to Syria to stand trial.
Questions over information provided on Tice
The arrangement is believed to have been reached in spring 2025. People connected to the Tice investigation told the BBC they had seen little evidence that Hassan’s information had significantly advanced the case. Sources also raised concerns that the payments could continue indefinitely without producing substantial results.
Hassan told US investigators last year that Tice had been executed on Assad’s orders. He also identified a possible location for Tice’s remains, but a search there found nothing, according to sources familiar with the operation. Two sources said US authorities halted the digging before the search was complete, possibly over security concerns.
Other former Syrian regime members connected to the case have also reportedly received financial assistance or found refuge abroad. One told the BBC he had received several payments from the FBI for cooperating on the Tice investigation, while another said he was living in Lebanon under the “patronage” of US authorities.
A former senior Lebanese intelligence official confirmed to the BBC that Lebanese intelligence has arrangements with US agencies and that payments can be made when their investigations overlap. He said he had no knowledge of payments related to the Tice case.
After the Assad government’s fall in early December 2024, Hassan is believed to have initially escaped to Iran. A Syrian businessman with ties to the former government and Lebanese authorities told the BBC that the US, Lebanon and Iran later took part in negotiations to move him to Lebanon. The businessman said Hassan’s knowledge of Syria’s chemical weapons programme and its military relationship with Iran may also have made him valuable to US intelligence.
The BBC also reported that Mohammad Makhlouf, who reported to Hassan and was linked to Tice’s detention, is believed to be in Lebanon. Sakr Rustom, Hassan’s nephew, who was involved in Tice’s abduction, is believed to be moving between the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. Former members of Syria’s National Defence Forces said former Republican Guard general Ghassan Nassour had presided over the prison where Tice was held; he is believed to be living in the UAE with his family.
