As half of a years-long investigation featured in the new BBC podcast: Where is Austin Tice? Series 3 of I’m Not A Monster Presents, the BBC has reviewed a detailed document of a assembly between Hassan, FBI and CIA representatives, and Lebanese security officers, where Tice’s case is mentioned.
In it, Hassan is supplied “residency”, “protection” and help securing his “living needs” in return for data, primarily about Tice.
Sources with information of the association confirmed this was the case, and described to us how Hassan receives money from the US authorities through an middleman, making it more durable to hint. Hassan is sanctioned by the US authorities.
Yet people related to the Tice investigation say they have seen little evidence it has considerably superior since Hassan started offering data as half of this settlement. The deal is believed to have been struck in the spring of 2025.
Sources with information of the investigation have expressed considerations that Hassan’s association with the US could proceed indefinitely, at important expense but with little gain.
Hassan is not the only Syrian regime official whose connection to the Tice case has seemingly afforded him financial funds or help for dwelling overseas.
One former regime member said he had obtained money from the FBI a number of instances in exchange for his co-operation on Tice’s case. It was “not in his interest to share all the information all at once,” he instructed the BBC, “in order to be able to drag out how long he can continue to receive payments from them [the US authorities]”.
Another former regime member related to the Tice case claimed he was dwelling in Lebanon under the “patronage” of the US authorities, citing this as the cause he could not communicate to us about Tice.
The BBC spoke to a former senior Lebanese intelligence official who confirmed that Lebanese intelligence does have preparations with the Americans, and that these varieties of funds have and do take place when both companies have overlap in circumstances, but said he had no information of funds involving the Tice case.
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