An investigation by the BBC revealed that Bassam al-Hassan, a former major general in the Assad regime’s army, is receiving funding and protection from US and Lebanese authorities.

In its investigation, published Thursday, October 8, the BBC said Hassan has lived in Lebanon since the regime fell on December 8, 2024.

The BBC said the investigation, conducted jointly with US National Public Radio (NPR), concluded that Hassan was allowed to remain on Lebanese territory under an arrangement involving the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other US and Lebanese authorities.

According to information obtained by the BBC, the arrangement resulted from Hassan’s willingness to provide information about the 2012 abduction of American journalist Austin Tice in Syria, as well as other intelligence.

The BBC had reported in an earlier investigation last month that Tice’s abduction was a planned operation and that Hassan was part of its chain of command.

The BBC said it had seen a detailed record of a meeting held between Hassan and representatives of the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Lebanese security officials, at which Tice’s case was discussed.

During the meeting, Hassan was offered residency, protection and help meeting his living needs in exchange for information relating primarily to Tice’s case.

Sources familiar with the matter told the BBC the details are accurate. They explained how Hassan received money from US authorities through intermediaries, which made the transactions difficult to trace, even though Hassan is under US government sanctions.

Even so, people close to the investigation into Tice’s case pointed to little evidence of tangible progress since Hassan began providing information under the agreement, which was likely concluded in spring 2025.

Sources familiar with the investigation expressed fears that Hassan’s arrangement with the US side could continue indefinitely, at great cost and with little to show for it.

Officials from two different branches of the Syrian government told the BBC they are demanding Hassan’s return to stand trial. US authorities, however, insist he remain in Lebanon, they said, adding that Damascus has no options to change the situation.

The BBC said it received no comment on the investigation’s findings from the FBI, the CIA or Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security.

The FBI referred the broadcaster to an earlier statement saying its focus is on uncovering the facts of Tice’s case and ensuring his return.

Hassan Reports Location of Tice’s Burial

The BBC said Bassam al-Hassan told US investigators last year that Tice was executed on the orders of ousted president Bashar al-Assad, but people familiar with the investigation doubted details of his account.

Hassan identified a possible location for Tice’s remains, but searches at the site turned up nothing, according to multiple sources familiar with the excavation work.

Two sources who said they were closely familiar with the details of the operation questioned the US search, noting that US authorities halted excavation before the search was complete, possibly because of security concerns.

The BBC noted that when it tried to contact Hassan by phone last year to request an interview, he insisted on permission to speak to it from the FBI and the CIA, through the US Embassy in Beirut.

Other Officials Receive US Support

The BBC said a former member of the Assad regime stated that he received money from the FBI on several occasions in exchange for his cooperation on Tice’s case.

The former member, whose identity the BBC did not disclose, said it was not in his interest to reveal all the information at once, so that he could prolong the period during which he received payments from US authorities.

Another former member of the Assad regime, who has links to Tice’s case, claimed he lives in Lebanon under the care of US authorities.

For his part, a former senior Lebanese intelligence official told the BBC that arrangements exist between Lebanese intelligence and the US side.

The Lebanese official added that such payments have been made, and continue to be made, in cases where the two agencies’ missions overlap, but said he knew of no payments linked to Tice’s case.

A Syrian businessman with strong ties to both the former regime and Lebanese authorities told the BBC that Hassan was of great value, not only because of what he is believed to know about Tice, but also because of his knowledge of Syria’s chemical weapons program and the military relationship between Syria and Iran. These are secrets that US intelligence was allegedly interested in obtaining.

Who Is Bassam al-Hassan?

Bassam Marhaj al-Hassan was born in 1961 in the town of Shin in the western Homs countryside. He began his military career in the Republican Guard, in the special guard company at the presidential palace, before rising through sensitive security posts within the regime. From 2008 he served as director of the security and military office at the presidential palace, a position that made him one of Bashar al-Assad’s closest figures.

After earning a doctorate in sociology from Damascus University, Hassan was assigned to oversee “Unit 450” of the Scientific Studies and Research Center, the unit responsible for securing and storing Syria’s chemical weapons.

Documents and human rights reports indicate he played a central role in coordinating orders on the use of these weapons. Since 2012, their use has killed more than 1,400 civilians, including hundreds of children and women, and injured about 10,000 others in attacks that used sarin gas and chlorine.

Hassan also served as chief of staff of the National Defense Forces, the militia founded with the backing of the Al-Bustan Association, which is tied to Rami Makhlouf, and armed directly from army depots.

Among its members he is known as “the Uncle” (al-Khal), because he is the maternal uncle of Saqr Rustum, secretary general of the militia, which had close ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its former commander, Qassem Soleimani.

Human rights organizations accuse Maj. Gen. Hassan of direct responsibility for a series of massacres committed by National Defense Forces militias in Homs, Daraa and Hama. They include the Houla massacre in May 2012, in which 106 civilians were killed, including 50 children, and the Qubeir massacre in Hama, in which 78 civilians were killed. They also include mass killings in the neighborhoods of Karm al-Zeitoun, Jobar and Ram al-Enz.

Hassan’s name has also appeared in files on the assassination and liquidation of opponents inside and outside Syria. The most prominent is the 2012 assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Wahid in Lebanon’s Tripoli, along with documents attributed to him that contain orders to liquidate defecting officers, among them Brig. Gen. Zaher al-Sakat and Col. Thaer Mdalal.

Because of these abuses, Maj. Gen. Bassam al-Hassan was placed on US, British and European sanctions lists, particularly for his role in the chemical attacks file.

Hassan remained in his post at the presidential palace until the last years of Assad’s rule, maintaining close ties with Russian and Iranian officers.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.