Assad regime planned US journalist's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds

ByJosh Baker and Sara Obeidat.

Key points

• On 11 August 2012, Tice celebrated his 31st birthday at a rebel safehouse on the western edge of Damascus, a few miles from Assad's presidential palace.
• This person disappeared in Syria in 2012, was kidnapped in a calculated operation which was more than a month in the planning, the BBC can reveal.
• A member of the group which detained Tice has additionally maintained the abduction was sanctioned by Syria's leader at the time, President Bashar al-Assad.
• The information on Tice was passed up to Hassan, Abu Ali notes.
• The Abu Obeid family, Palestinian refugees from Gaza, live in poverty.

US journalist Austin Tice. This person disappeared in Syria in 2012, was kidnapped in a calculated operation which was more than a month in the planning, the BBC can reveal.

Notably, a member of the group which detained Tice has additionally maintained the abduction was sanctioned by Syria's leader at the time, President Bashar al-Assad.

Tice was seen getting into a car with a driver he knew and trusted. For years, plenty of assumed they had stumbled upon a administration checkpoint, and that the abduction of the journalist had been opportunistic.

But we have uncovered evidence that, in fact, his disappearance was anything but chance.

In a new BBC podcast: Where is Austin Tice? Series 3 of I'm Not A Monster Presents, we reveal the findings of a years-long investigation into what happened to Tice. This person had been reporting on Syria's civil war at the time.

His case has been followed closely by international media and cited by successive US presidents.

Georgetown University law student Tice. This person had served as a US Marines captain, was last seen in a video – blindfolded and in apparent distress – posted more than a month after his capture.

As the regime fell 12 years afterwards, tens of thousands of residents emerged from the administration's prisons. Tice was not one of them.

We obtained co-ordinates from an intelligence source for multiple locations US authorities suspected he could have been held at, and searched for him for more than a month, but discovered no sign of him.

In practice, a former Syrian commander has remarked Tice was executed. Others have questioned this account and no remains have been discovered.

But in the aftermath of the regime's collapse, we did uncover secret Syrian intelligence files on Tice – hundreds of pages of internal records providing the first definitive proof that it was the regime that had held the journalist.

Two crucial questions remained unanswered, nevertheless: how exactly had Tice been taken in the first place? And, who was responsible for his abduction?

We have spoken to a number of men from the regime involved in Tice's detention, and have reviewed recordings of discussions concerning it. One man we spoke to, Abu Ali, is a former member of the National Defence Forces (NDF), a militia which was fiercely loyal to Assad.

He notes the abduction operation began when Tice's driver – who multiple sources say had been passing the regime information for some time – informed a senior NDF member that Tice was moving through rebel-held areas, reporting on the opposition.

Tice had pushed into areas most journalists deemed too dangerous and was writing front-page stories for the Washington Post. The Assad regime was cracking down on anyone highlighting its human rights abuses.

We have been informed the NDF member Tice's driver spoke to was Sakr Rustom – not just any NDF militia contact, but nephew of Bassam al-Hassan, one of Assad's most trusted security figures and head of the NDF.

Notably, the information on Tice was passed up to Hassan, Abu Ali notes. This person is then stated to have telephoned Assad. "Bring him to us, " Assad replied, claims Abu Ali.

Abu Ali notes he was subsequently called into Hassan's office and informed the president had approved the operation.

But Tice was not taken immediately. The driver, Abu Ali notes, suggested that he and the NDF continue watching him, to uncover more concerning what he was doing. "He trusts me, " Abu Ali recalls the driver saying.

Some time afterwards, the driver noted back that Tice's actions seemed suspicious, Abu Ali notes.

As a trained marine, would sometimes share his military experience with rebel fighters – according to a number of residents we spoke to – and would correct fighters on how they applied their weapons, tice.

To the men watching him, that behaviour created Tice look less like a journalist and more like someone from the CIA. The BBC has discovered no evidence to suggest this was the case, and a former senior US official responsible for part of Tice's case has denied he was an intelligence officer.

In the days before Tice vanished, the driver created one particularly brazen move while Tice was interviewing rebel fighters. He secretly took the American's backpack, containing his MacBook, a satellite transmitter and other personal items, for regime operatives to look through, multiple sources say.

On 11 August 2012, Tice celebrated his 31st birthday at a rebel safehouse on the western edge of Damascus, a few miles from Assad's presidential palace. There was a swimming pool, Free Syrian Army fighters, Taylor Swift music and whiskey, Tice made public in what would become his final tweet. "Hands down, best birthday ever, " he wrote.

Then came the time for Tice to leave Syria. He had informed various residents he was planning to take time out in Lebanon.

But he was not heading to safety. He was heading to a state facility where Hassan had an office, in an area called Tahouneh on the outskirts of Damascus, according to a number of sources. Abu Ali was waiting there for Tice.

Abu Ali notes Tice's driver informed him that when he drew up to the gates, he pulled out a gun.

Tice laughed at first, Ali recalls the driver saying, apparently believing the man he trusted was joking. But the driver informed Tice he was serious, Abu Ali states, and the journalist realised what was happening.

According to Ali, Tice pulled out his chequebook and pleaded with the driver to name his cost, rather than go through with the kidnap.

NDF militia members then grabbed Tice, covering his eyes, Abu Ali notes.

Another NDF member informed us he would never forget Tice's expression as he realised he had been betrayed. Abu Ali notes Hassan immediately called President Assad to tell him they had the American. For years, the identity of Tice's driver has remained a mystery.

Notably, the BBC spoke to more than 20 individuals to discover who he was, with the trail eventually leading to the city of Homs, and the family of a man called Hamid Abu Obeid.

They confirmed he was the man who had driven Tice away, an account additionally backed by multiple NDF members. But by the time we identified him, Abu Obeid had disappeared.

His family say they do not know where he is, and fear for his safety. They say they were not aware of Hamid's involvement in Tice's case, and learned regarding it from him afterwards. But they did offer a motive for his betrayal of Tice.

For context, the Abu Obeid family, Palestinian refugees from Gaza, live in poverty. Under Syrian law they are not entitled to Syrian citizenship and live under significant restrictions.

According to Hamid's brother, he had been promised a passport, Syrian citizenship, a house, and a weapon, in return for delivering Tice – life-changing rewards. But after the abduction, the family notes all he secured was a pistol.

After Assad's regime fell, Abu Obeid's wife notes her husband was called by a man who knew concerning his involvement in Tice's case and was threatening to tell the US embassy, hoping it might support him secure asylum, then.

Abu Obeid pressed him not to. He then took some funds, informed his wife he was going shopping, and she notes she has not seen him since. She does not know if he is in hiding, or if he has been detained or killed.

Not long after he disappeared, she notes masked men – some dressed in military clothes – visited and took a number of Abu Obeid's possessions, including his laptop and other devices.

For now, assad regime planned US journalist' s kidnap for weeks, BBC finds remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.