US and Lebanon hosting Syrian general wanted for war crimes: Report
A former Syrian general wanted for crimes against humanity is being bankrolled and hosted by the US and Lebanese authorities, according to a joint NPR and BBC investigation released on Thursday.
Bassam al-Hassan, who ran Syria’s chemical weapons programme and was a senior advisor to former President Bashar al-Assad, has been living in Lebanon under US protection since Assad’s government was toppled in late 2024.
Hassan is staying in Lebanon with the backing of the FBI and other US authorities, the BBC reported, because he has provided information about the abduction of American journalist Austin Tice.
Tice, a former US Marine and freelance journalist, was taken captive in Syria in 2012.
US officials have spent years trying to locate him and secure his release. US officials were in talks with the Assad government in the belief it was holding Tice captive before Assad’s government was toppled by militants under the command of Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was formerly linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and is now president.
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This is not the first time the BBC has reported on Hassan.
In June 2025, the news site revealed that Hassan told US officials Assad ordered Tice’s execution. At the time, the BBC reported that Hassan met US officials in Lebanon, including at the US embassy complex in Beirut. But that report said Hassan was living in Iran after the Assad government collapsed. He travelled to Lebanon to discuss Tice after the US assured him it wouldn’t detain him.
Hassan is a former commander in the Republican Guards and key adviser to Assad.
'The Syrians deserve justice'
In addition to overseeing the country’s chemical weapons programme, Hassan was the chief of staff for the National Defence Forces, which the BBC reported was responsible for keeping Tice in captivity.
According to the investigation, Hassan was supposed to provide the US with information on where they could locate Tice. No remains were found at the site Hassan told searchers to investigate. Tice’s mother, Debra, asked US officials to arrange her own meeting with Hassan, but they denied the request.
Hassan is not the only former Assad government official living in Middle Eastern states that are US partners. Mohammad Makhlouf, who reported to Hassan, is also residing in Lebanon. Sakr Rustom, Hassan's nephew who was allegedly involved in Tice's abduction, lives between Lebanon and the UAE, the BBC reported.
Ghassan Nassour, a former general in Syria's Republican Guard who oversaw the jail where Tice was held, is also believed to live in the UAE, the BBC and NPR reported.
Damascus is close to Turkey and Gulf states.
Since Assad’s overthrow, Syria has emerged as a close US ally in the region. The Trump administration lifted sanctions on Syria and has cooperated closely with Sharaa’s government.
Sharaa’s government has been cooperating with the US to try to locate Tice, according to US media.
"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,” Phil Elwood, spokesperson for the Tice family, told the BBC.
"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,” he added.
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