Key facts
- US journalist Austin Tice was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 in a planned operation.
- A former Syrian National Defence Forces (NDF) member claims the abduction was sanctioned by President Bashar al-Assad.
- Tice's driver, Hamid Abu Obeid, reportedly betrayed him for promises of Syrian citizenship and other rewards.
- The driver secretly took Tice's backpack containing his MacBook and other personal items before the abduction.
- Tice was taken to a state facility on the outskirts of Damascus on August 11, 2012, his 31st birthday.
US journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012, was kidnapped in a calculated operation that was planned for over a month, according to a BBC investigation. A former member of the National Defence Forces (NDF), a militia loyal to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, claims the abduction was sanctioned by Assad himself.
Tice, a former US Marine captain and Georgetown University law student, was last seen blindfolded and in apparent distress in a video posted more than a month after his capture. For years, it was assumed his abduction was opportunistic, possibly at a government checkpoint. However, the BBC has uncovered evidence suggesting a deliberate plan.
According to Abu Ali, a former NDF member interviewed by the BBC, Tice's driver, Hamid Abu Obeid, had been passing information to the regime. The driver informed a senior NDF member, Sakr Rustom, that Tice was moving through rebel-held areas and reporting on the opposition. Rustom, nephew of trusted security figure Bassam al-Hassan, passed the information up to Hassan, who allegedly telephoned Assad. "Bring him to us," Assad reportedly replied, according to Abu Ali, who claims the president approved the operation.
The driver suggested monitoring Tice further, as Tice's behavior, including correcting rebel fighters on weapon usage, made him appear more like a CIA operative than a journalist. The BBC found no evidence to support this claim, and a former senior US official denied Tice was an intelligence officer.
In the days before his disappearance on August 11, 2012, the driver secretly took Tice's backpack containing his MacBook and other personal items for regime operatives to examine. Tice was abducted as he was preparing to leave Syria for Lebanon. Abu Ali recounts that Tice, upon realizing he was being betrayed by his driver, offered money to be released. NDF militia members then grabbed Tice, covering his eyes.
The BBC identified Tice's driver as Hamid Abu Obeid, a Palestinian refugee from Gaza living in poverty. His family confirmed he drove Tice and stated he was promised a passport, Syrian citizenship, a house, and a weapon in return for delivering Tice. However, after the abduction, his family claims he only received a pistol. After the Syrian regime's collapse, Abu Obeid's wife reported that her husband disappeared after being threatened with exposure to the US embassy, and masked men later took some of his possessions.