As part of its quest to achieve transitional justice, the new Syrian government demands the extradition of fugitives to neighboring countries, especially Lebanon, including Bassam al-Hassan, a Syrian general from the era of the former regime, who served as a high-level advisor to former President Bashar al-Assad.
But Al-Hassan, who lives in Lebanon, enjoys Lebanese-American protection, according to a joint investigative report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the US National Public Radio (NPR). The investigation concluded that Al-Hassan was wanted for crimes against humanity, and that he was supervising the Syrian chemical weapons program during the era of the previous regime.
Al-Hassan fled to Lebanon in 2024 following the fall of the Assad regime, and there he is protected and funded by the Lebanese and American authorities.
The investigation found that Al-Hassan was allowed to remain in Lebanon under an arrangement involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other American and Lebanese parties, in exchange for his willingness to provide information about the 2012 kidnapping of American journalist Austin Tice in Syria, as well as other intelligence.
Al-Hassan possesses information about Tice's kidnapping, as he was part of the chain of command responsible for the kidnapping, as the BBC revealed last month.
The BBC has seen a detailed record of a meeting between Al-Hassan, representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Lebanese security officials, where the Tice case was discussed. During the meeting, Al-Hassan was offered residency, protection, and assistance to secure his living needs in exchange for providing information about Tice’s kidnapping. Al-Hassan receives money from the American authorities through an intermediary, knowing that he is subject to American sanctions.
Al-Hassan provided information to US authorities about the Tice case, in accordance with an agreement with US authorities believed to have been concluded in the spring of 2025, in which he told US investigators that Tice was executed on the orders of former President Bashar al-Assad.
Al-Hassan identified a possible location for Tice's remains, but searches at the site yielded nothing, according to informed sources, which raised doubts about the authenticity of some of the information Al-Hassan provided.
People connected to the investigation into the case say that there is only little evidence indicating that tangible progress has been achieved in the case, and two sources confirmed that the American authorities stopped the drilling work before the research was completed, perhaps due to security concerns.
Sources familiar with the investigation expressed fears that Al-Hassan’s agreement with the United States would continue indefinitely, entailing high costs without achieving any gains.
Phil Elwood, a spokesman for the Tice family, commented on what the investigation revealed by saying: “If the information you are providing is correct, the fact that taxpayers’ money was used to provide a comfortable life for someone who has been linked to the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians, and who was allegedly behind the execution of Austin Tice, is insulting.” He added: "This behavior is nothing less than aiding and abetting a wanted war criminal to evade justice. Syrians deserve justice, and should be brought back before the courts."
It is believed that Al-Hassan first fled to Iran in 2024, as a Syrian businessman with strong ties to both the Assad regime and the Lebanese authorities, who declined to reveal his identity, told the BBC that negotiations had taken place at that time, with the participation of the United States, Lebanon, and Iran, with the aim of transferring Al-Hassan to Lebanon.
The businessman explained that Hassan represented a “precious catch.” Not only because of what he is believed to know about the Tice case, but also because of his knowledge of the Syrian chemical weapons program and the nature of military relations between Syria and Iran, secrets that US intelligence was allegedly interested in obtaining.
Al-Hassan is not the only official in the Assad regime involved in the Tice case, and he was provided with protection abroad in order to obtain information, as the investigation mentioned the involvement of other officials in the case, some of whom refused to talk about the matter.
Bassam Merhej Al-Hassan was born in 1961 in the town of Shin in the countryside of Homs. He began his career in the Republican Guard, which is one of the military units most relied upon to protect the regime. Then he assumed sensitive positions that made him close to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to the Syrian Observer website.
Al-Hassan supervised “Unit 450” at the Center for Scientific Studies and Research, which is responsible for securing and storing Syrian chemical weapons.
Al-Hassan held sensitive positions within the former Syrian regime, making him responsible for committing the most horrific crimes, as he conveyed Assad’s orders to launch sarin and chlorine gas attacks on Syrians between 2012 and 2018, including the Ghouta massacre in August 2013 and the Douma attack in April 2018, which led to the killing of more than 1,500 civilians and the injury of thousands, according to the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF).
Investigations by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have indicated that responsibility lies with the chain of command over which he headed, and reports document at least 221 chemical attacks during that period.
The documents bearing his seal and signature also condemn him for the assassination of opposition figures inside and outside Syria, in addition to his direct responsibility for a series of massacres committed by the Civil Defense Forces in Homs, Daraa, and Hama, most notably the 2012 Houla massacre.
Because of these violations, Al-Hassan was included on the US, British and European sanctions list, especially for his role in the chemical attacks file.
