US Journalist Austin Tice's Family Throw Doubt on Syrian Claim He Was Executed
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The man accused of being responsible for holding Austin Tice - the American journalist who was abducted in Syria 2012 - has claimed that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered his execution and that he is dead, the BBC reported.
The broadcaster, citing security sources, made the discovery as part of an upcoming BBC Radio 4 podcast about Tice's disappearance. However, authorities, along with Tice's family, are sceptical of the claims.
In a statement to the New York Times, a representative for the family said they were disappointed it had been published and doubted it was true: "Based on firsthand information, the Tice family believes this version of events is false and it is unhelpful to their efforts to locate and safely return Austin."
The reporter and former US Marine captain vanished near the Syrian capital, Damascus, just days before his 31st birthday.
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The fallen regime consistently denied knowing where he was, but intelligence documents uncovered by the BBC earlier this month, along with testimonies from former Syrian officials, confirmed what the US Government long suspected: Tice had been imprisoned by the Assad regime.
Major General Bassam Al Hassan, a former commander in the Republican Guards and part of Assad's inner circle, was also the Chief of Staff of the National Defence Forces (NDF), the paramilitary group the broadcaster reported was responsible for holding Tice.
Al Hassan is said to have met with US law enforcement at least three times in Lebanon earlier this year and during these conversations told investigators that Assad had ordered Tice's execution, which was later carried out.
Al Hassan is understood to have provided possible locations for the journalist's body, but the BBC reported that investigators are yet to confirm his claims. Searches of the sites are said to be planned.
Hassan was sanctioned by the US in 2014 for arms procurement and is wanted by French judges for allegedly helping coordinate sarin gas attacks in 2013. He reportedly maintained close ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Syria, the Guardian reported.
In December 2024, after rebel forces seized Damascus, Hassan fled to Iran before travelling, voluntarily, to Lebanon where US investigators have been interviewing him since April.
Who is Austin Tice
Austin Bennett Tice, born on 11 August 1981, in Houston, Texas, is the eldest of seven siblings. A lifelong writer at heart, he graduated from Georgetown University's prestigious Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2002. The former US Marine captain, who completed two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, also enrolled at Georgetown University Law Center in 2010.
In 2012, he chose to cover the Syrian civil war as a freelance journalist, becoming one of the few foreigners reporting from inside the country as it slipped into chaos. His work, published in outlets like The Washington Post, McClatchy News, and CBS, earned him the George Polk Award for War Reporting.
Tice was last seen near a checkpoint on the outskirts of Damascus, in the suburb of Darayya in August 2012. Seven weeks later a 47- second video appeared online titled, 'Austin Tice Still Alive'.
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The man accused of being responsible for holding Austin Tice - the American journalist who was abducted in Syria 2012 - has claimed that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered his execution and that he is dead, the BBC reported.
The broadcaster, citing security sources, made the discovery as part of an upcoming BBC Radio 4 podcast about Tice's disappearance. However, authorities, along with Tice's family, are sceptical of the claims.
In a statement to the New York Times, a representative for the family said they were disappointed it had been published and doubted it was true: "Based on firsthand information, the Tice family believes this version of events is false and it is unhelpful to their efforts to locate and safely return Austin."
The reporter and former US Marine captain vanished near the Syrian capital, Damascus, just days before his 31st birthday.
'This Is the Room Where My Sister and Mother Died': The Heartbreaking Return Home for Syrians After Assad Was Overthrown
A month since al-Assad was forced from power those living in exile are returning home to find nothing left
Joseph Roche and Iryna Matviyishyn
The fallen regime consistently denied knowing where he was, but intelligence documents uncovered by the BBC earlier this month, along with testimonies from former Syrian officials, confirmed what the US Government long suspected: Tice had been imprisoned by the Assad regime.
Major General Bassam Al Hassan, a former commander in the Republican Guards and part of Assad's inner circle, was also the Chief of Staff of the National Defence Forces (NDF), the paramilitary group the broadcaster reported was responsible for holding Tice.
Al Hassan is said to have met with US law enforcement at least three times in Lebanon earlier this year and during these conversations told investigators that Assad had ordered Tice's execution, which was later carried out.
Al Hassan is understood to have provided possible locations for the journalist's body, but the BBC reported that investigators are yet to confirm his claims. Searches of the sites are said to be planned.
Hassan was sanctioned by the US in 2014 for arms procurement and is wanted by French judges for allegedly helping coordinate sarin gas attacks in 2013. He reportedly maintained close ties with Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Syria, the Guardian reported.
In December 2024, after rebel forces seized Damascus, Hassan fled to Iran before travelling, voluntarily, to Lebanon where US investigators have been interviewing him since April.
Who is Austin Tice
Austin Bennett Tice, born on 11 August 1981, in Houston, Texas, is the eldest of seven siblings. A lifelong writer at heart, he graduated from Georgetown University's prestigious Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2002. The former US Marine captain, who completed two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, also enrolled at Georgetown University Law Center in 2010.
In 2012, he chose to cover the Syrian civil war as a freelance journalist, becoming one of the few foreigners reporting from inside the country as it slipped into chaos. His work, published in outlets like The Washington Post, McClatchy News, and CBS, earned him the George Polk Award for War Reporting.
Tice was last seen near a checkpoint on the outskirts of Damascus, in the suburb of Darayya in August 2012. Seven weeks later a 47- second video appeared online titled, 'Austin Tice Still Alive'.
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