CNN admitted Monday that it had been misled by a man who the network initially reported in a viral segment as being a Syrian prisoner released from a secret prison.
CNN’s Clarissa Ward’s news segment circulated widely last week when she reported on the alleged rescue of a “Syrian prisoner” who she said had spent “three months in a windowless cell” in one of the Assad regime’s secret prisons . Department called it “one of the most special moments I have experienced” in her journalistic career. However, the man seemed to be in good shape for someone locked up in a gruesome prison and denied food or water for several days, leading to questions about the superficial story.
Ward confirmed that the man was actually Salama Mohammad Salama, also known as Abu Hamza, who was a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence. CNN report said he was known for extortion and intimidation, while a local Syrian fact-check said he was even known for torture and murder.
“We can confirm the real identity of the man from our story last Wednesday as Salama Mohammed Salama.” Ward posted on X to caption a CNN report on the ordeal.
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CNN’s Clarissa Ward offered the man water as the network’s cameras rolled. (CNN/ Screenshot)
“CNN initially found the man while searching for clues about missing American journalist Austin Tice. In a video report, chief correspondent Clarissa Ward and her team, accompanied by a rebel guard, came across a padlocked cell in a Damascus prison. Outside, the guard blew the lock with a gun, and the man was found alone in the cell, under a blanket,” CNN reported.
“When he came out into the open, the man seemed bewildered. Questioned by the rebel fighter who freed him, the man identified himself as Adel Ghurbal from the central Syrian city of Homs,” CNN continued. “An image obtained by CNN on Monday now points to the real identity of the man – reportedly a lieutenant in the Assad regime’s Air Force Intelligence Directorate, Salama Mohammad Salama.”
CNN reported that a Homs resident “gave CNN a photo allegedly of the same man while he was on duty, in what appears to be a government office” and that his identity was confirmed with facial recognition software.
“In the photo he is sitting at a desk, apparently in military clothing. CNN is not publishing the photo to protect the source’s anonymity,” CNN reported, adding that “several Homs residents said the man was Salama, also known as Abu Hamza. But it is “unclear how and why Salama ended up in Damascus prison, and CNN has been unable to regain contact with him.”
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CNN admitted Monday that it had been misled by a man who the network initially reported was a Syrian prisoner released from a secret prison. (CNN/Screenshot)
Verify-Sy, affiliated with the Poynter Institute that also runs PolitiFact, first reported that the man provided false information.
“Salama, known as ‘Abu Hamza’, is a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence, infamous for his activities in Homs. Residents of Al-Bayyada neighborhood identified him as someone who was regularly stationed at a checkpoint at the western entrance to the area, notorious for its abuses,” Verify-SY reported.
“Abu Hamza reportedly controlled several security checkpoints in Homs and was involved in theft, extortion and coercing residents to become informants,” Verify-SY continued. “According to locals, his recent detention – which lasted less than a month – was the result of a dispute over profit sharing of extorted funds with a senior officer. This led to his detention in one of Damascus’ cells, according to local sources. “
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Verify-SY reported that the prisoner was actually Salama Mohammad Salama, also known as Abu Hamza, a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force intelligence notorious for torturing young men. (CNN/Screenshot)
The report states that Salama has a “grim history” and “took part in military operations on several fronts in Homs in 2014, killing civilians,” adding that he was “responsible for detaining and torturing numerous young men in the city without cause or based on fabricated plans’. accusations.”
“Many were targeted simply because they refused to pay bribes, rejected cooperation, or even for arbitrary reasons such as their appearance. These details were confirmed by families of victims and former detainees who spoke to Verify-Sy,” the report said.
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Fox News Digital’s David Rutz contributed to this report.
