Wanted Syrian general is being sheltered in Lebanon under US-backed arrangement, BBC finds

A former Syrian general wanted for alleged crimes against humanity is being protected and financially supported in Lebanon in an arrangement involving United States and Lebanese authorities, a joint investigation by the BBC and the US public broadcaster NPR has found.

Bassam al-Hassan, who oversaw Syria's chemical weapons programme and served as a senior adviser to former president Bashar al-Assad, has remained in Lebanon since the collapse of the Assad government in 2024, according to the investigation.

The reporting says Hassan has been allowed to stay under an arrangement involving the FBI and other American and Lebanese agencies. Two reasons are cited: his willingness to provide information about the abduction of American journalist Austin Tice in Syria in 2012, and other intelligence he is said to have offered.

Last month, the BBC reported that Tice's abduction had been a planned operation and that Hassan was in the chain of command at the time.

Officials from two different branches of Syria's new government told the BBC they want Hassan returned to face trial. According to those officials, however, US authorities want him kept in Lebanon, and they say Damascus has little means of changing that.

The BBC asked the FBI, the CIA and Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security to comment on the findings. Only the FBI responded. It declined to comment and instead pointed to an earlier statement saying its focus remained on establishing the facts of the Tice case and securing his return.

Phil Elwood, a spokesperson for the Tice family, said the reported arrangement was offensive, noting that it concerned a man associated with the use of chemical weapons on Syrian civilians. "This is nothing less than aiding and abetting the escape of a wanted war criminal," he said. "The Syrians deserve justice and he should be returned to stand trial."

The case raises a wider question: how should governments weigh intelligence cooperation against their obligations to investigate grave international crimes? Under international law, states are expected to investigate and prosecute, or hand over, people suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The use of chemical weapons is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria joined in 2013.

Securing Austin Tice's return has been stated as a priority by successive US administrations. Tice, a freelance journalist, was abducted at a checkpoint near Damascus in August 2012. His family has campaigned for more than a decade for information about what happened to him.

Syria's new authorities have said they intend to pursue accountability for abuses committed under the previous government. Whether a former general accused of serious crimes would be tried in Damascus, and whether such proceedings would meet international standards, remains an open question.

Neither US nor Lebanese authorities have confirmed the reported arrangement. The investigation's account of how Hassan came to remain in Lebanon rests on information the BBC says it obtained from sources, and the BBC has not published all of that material.

For the Tice family, the central demand is unchanged: full disclosure about the journalist's fate, and the return of anyone responsible to face justice. For Syria's new government, the case tests whether pledges of accountability can be matched by action — and whether foreign intelligence interests will stand in the way.