US and Lebanon protecting wanted Syrian general, BBC finds

US and Lebanon protecting wanted Syrian general, BBC finds

Bassam al-Hassan is wanted for crimes against humanity during Syria's Assad regime

A former Syrian general wanted for crimes against humanity, external is being funded and shielded by the US and Lebanese authorities, a BBC News investigation has found.

Bassam al-Hassan, who oversaw Syria's chemical weapons programme and served as a senior adviser to former President Bashar al-Assad, is being sheltered in Lebanon after the Assad regime collapsed in 2024.

A BBC and US broadcaster NPR investigation has found that Hassan has been permitted to stay there under an arrangement involving the FBI and other US and Lebanese authorities. We have been told this is because he is willing to provide information about the 2012 abduction of American journalist Austin Tice in Syria, along with further intelligence.

Last month, the BBC reported that Tice's abduction had been a planned operation, with Hassan in the chain of command.

Officials from two separate branches of Syria's new government have told the BBC they want Hassan sent back to face trial, but say US authorities want him kept in Beirut, and that there is little Damascus can do about it.

We asked the FBI, the CIA and Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security to respond to our findings. Only the FBI replied, declining to comment and instead referring us to a previous statement saying its focus remained on establishing the facts in the Tice case and securing his return.

In response to our findings, Phil Elwood, spokesperson for the Tice family, said: "If what you are saying is true, the fact that our tax dollars are being used to furnish a comfortable life for someone associated with the use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians, who claims to have had Austin Tice executed, is offensive.

"This is nothing less than aiding and abetting the escape of a wanted war criminal. The Syrians deserve justice and he should be returned to stand trial."

In Series 3 of I'm Not A Monster Presents, the BBC has examined a detailed record of a meeting between Hassan, FBI and CIA representatives, and Lebanese security officials, in which Tice's case is discussed.

In that meeting, Hassan is offered "residency", "protection" and help meeting his "living needs" in exchange for information, mainly about Tice.

Sources familiar with the arrangement confirmed this was the case, and told us Hassan receives money from the US authorities through an intermediary, making it harder to trace. Hassan is sanctioned by the US government.

Even so, people linked to the Tice investigation say they have seen little sign that it has significantly progressed since Hassan began giving information under this agreement. The deal is believed to have been made in the spring of 2025.

Sources familiar with the investigation have raised concerns that Hassan's arrangement with the US could go on indefinitely, at considerable cost but with little benefit.

Hassan is not the only Syrian regime figure whose link to the Tice case appears to have brought financial payments or help with living abroad.

One former regime member said he had received money from the FBI several times in return for his cooperation on Tice's case. It was "not in his interest to share all the information all at once," he told the BBC, "in order to be able to drag out how long he can continue to receive payments from them [the US authorities]".

Another former regime member linked to the Tice case said he was living in Lebanon under the "patronage" of the US authorities, and cited that as the reason he could not speak to us about Tice.

The BBC also spoke to a former senior Lebanese intelligence official who confirmed that Lebanese intelligence does have arrangements with the Americans, and that these kinds of payments have happened and do happen when both agencies overlap in cases, but said he had no knowledge of payments connected to the Tice case.

US journalist Austin Tice has been missing since 2012 - Bassam al-Hassan is believed to have been involved in his disappearance

After the Assad regime fell in early December 2024, Hassan is believed to have first fled to Iran.

A Syrian businessman with strong ties to both the former regime and the Lebanese authorities told the BBC that negotiations then took place - involving the US, Lebanon and Iran - to bring Hassan to Lebanon.

The businessman, who asked not to be named, said Hassan was valuable not only because of what he is believed to know about Tice, but also because of his knowledge of Syria's chemical weapons programme and its military relationship with Iran - secrets that US intelligence was allegedly interested in.

Hassan told US investigators last year that Tice had been executed on former President Assad's orders, but several people familiar with the investigation have questioned the details of his account. Hassan has provided a possible location for Tice's remains, but when the site was searched, nothing was found - according to multiple sources familiar with the dig - raising doubts about the accuracy of some of Hassan's information.

There are, however, questions about how thoroughly the site was searched. Two sources who said they had close knowledge of the operation told the BBC that US authorities stopped digging before the search had been completed, possibly because of security concerns.

When the BBC managed to reach Hassan by phone last year to request an interview, he told us to seek permission for him to speak from the FBI and CIA at the US embassy in Beirut.

Our investigation has found that other Syrian officials linked to the Tice case also appear to have found refuge abroad.

They include Mohammad Makhlouf, who reported to Hassan in Syria and was connected to Tice's detention - now believed to be living in Lebanon. And Sakr Rustom, Hassan's nephew who was involved in Tice's abduction, now believed to be moving between the UAE and Lebanon. When the BBC tried to speak to Rustom about Tice's case, he said he "preferred to focus on matters of the future".

Ghassan Nassour, a former general in Syria's Republican Guard, is said by former members of the National Defence Forces to have overseen the jail where Tice was held, and is believed to be living in the UAE with his family, we have been told.