"Of course, Austin is dead. Austin is dead."
"I don't want to protect Bashar al-Assad because he abandoned and left us. I don't want to protect Russia or Iran, because the U.S. thinks Russia and Iran have something to do with the case. And I can assure you that this is not the case. This relates to President Bashar only."
"Al-Hassan was clearly completely shocked that we found him and that element of surprise played in our favor - he invited us into his home and was relatively friendly. We had been warned that he is an incredibly cunning and manipulative man. He went from playing the victim to asking to take our photo to choking up in a space of 20 minutes. Honestly, we were left with the impression that he is not a trustworthy character. At the same time, he seemed sincere when he said that Austin Tice was dead and this was something we heard from almost every single source (and we spoke to dozens of"
Investigative journalists used a hidden camera to locate Bassam Al-Hassan at his Beirut apartment, where Al-Hassan stated that Austin Tice is dead and was killed in 2013 on Bashar al-Assad's orders. Al-Hassan asserted that Russia and Iran were not involved and framed responsibility as resting solely with President Bashar. Observers noted Al-Hassan displayed emotional shifts, from cordiality to choking up, and described him as cunning and manipulative, leaving questions about his credibility. Multiple other sources reportedly indicated that Tice was dead. Al-Hassan has been a central figure in the Tice case since Tice's disappearance in 2012.
Read at Poynter
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