The former Syrian commander claims that the missing American journalist Austin Tis has been fulfilled

The man, accused of being responsible for holding the missing American journalist Austin Tis, claims that Syrian President Bashar al -Assad’s proclamation has ordered his execution, security sources told the BBC.

Major General Basam Al Hassan is a former commander in the Republican Guards, who was part of President Assad’s inner circle.

He was also the head of the National Defense Forces Staff (NDF), the paramilitary group that a BBC investigation is revealed is responsible for holding d -Ni, after his abduction in 2012.

The discovery was made as part of the upcoming BBC Radio 4 podcast for the disappearance of Austin Tis.

The American journalist disappeared near the Syrian capital of Damascus in August 2012, just days after his 31st birthday.

He worked as a freelance journalist and left Syria when he was abducted.

The fallen regime consistently denies knowing its location – the BBC investigation has shown that it is incorrect and that D -N -Tis is being held in Damascus.

Al Hasan, who is the subject of the United Kingdom, the EU, Canadian and US sanctions, runs the facility where the d -TIS takes place.

Earlier this year, it is said that he met with US law enforcement agencies at least three times in Lebanon.

Sources say at least one of these meetings was in the US Embassy complex.

During these conversations, it was said that he had told investigators from the FBI and the CIA that the already moistened President Assad had ordered the execution of the missing American journalist Austin Tis.

Sources familiar with the conversations told the BBC that Al Hasan claims that he initially tried to discourage President Assad from the murder of G -N -Tis, but in the end he had passed on that order and that it was committed.

Al Hassan is believed to have provided possible places for the journalist’s body. Sources familiar with the FBI investigation said efforts to confirm the validity of Al Hassan’s allegations were continuing and that the search was intended to happen from the sites where the body of d -tis could be.

Sources of Western Intelligence, familiar with the details of Al -Hassan’s claim that President Assad gave an order to kill d -H -h, are skeptical that he will directly give such an instruction, as he is known for having mechanisms for distance from such actions.

The BBC accompany the mother of G -n -Tis, Debra, to Beirut as a 13th anniversary of her son’s disappearance. After learning that Basam Al Hassan had spoken with US officials, Debra Tis tried to meet with Al Hassan herself and contacted the US embassy requesting help.

She said to the BBC: “I just want to be able to talk to him as a mother and ask him about my son.” Her attempt to meet Al Hassan was unsuccessful.

When asked about Al Hasan’s allegations, she said her feeling was that he “fed a FBI story they wanted to hear” to help them close the case.

Debra Tis leads a tireless and decisive campaign to bring her son back home and remains committed to finding him. She said to the BBC: “I am his mother, I still believe that my son is alive and that he will walk for free.”

A former NDF member with an intimate knowledge of Austin Tis detention told the BBC that “Austin’s value has been understood” and that it is a “map” that can be played in diplomatic negotiations with the United States.

Basam Al Hassan was considered one of President Assad’s most trusted advisers. Following the collapse of the Syrian regime in December, al -Hassan had fled to Iran.

Sources close to him told the BBC that while in Iran, Al Hassan received a phone call and was asked to come to Lebanon to meet US officials. He is believed to have been assured that he will not be detained.

For years, another US presidents say that G -N Tis, a former captain of the US Marine, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a law student at the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington, is alive.

In December 2024, President Joe Biden then told the White House reporters that “we believe he is alive” and that “we think we can return it, but we still have no direct evidence of it.”