CNN recognized This week we were misled by a man pretending to be a Syrian prisoner, when he was actually a former intelligence officer under the Assad regime.
In a report published Monday, the outlet said it had documented the encounter with the man and his release. report “While chasing leads on missing American journalist Austin Tice.”
The man told international correspondent Clarissa Ward and others that he had been held in a cell in the Damascus prison where he was discovered for three months, and claimed he had no knowledge that Assad's regime had fallen.
Ward's dramatic report was featured prominently on CNN and widely shared on social media platforms over the weekend.
The network announced on Monday that it had obtained images proving the man's identity as Salama Mohammad Salama, a member of Assad's Air Force Intelligence Directorate.
The media reported that several Syrian residents had confirmed the man's identity, and noted that journalists had not been able to reestablish contact with Salama.
A note on the original video report on CNN's website reads: “In reporting from Syria, CNN's Clarissa Ward is a civilian imprisoned by President Bashar al-Assad's regime in a Damascus prison cell. A subsequent CNN report suggested that the man was a former intelligence officer in the deposed administration. ”
“No one other than the CNN team knew about our plans to visit the prison buildings featured in the news coverage that day,” a CNN spokesperson told The Hill. The decision to release the prisoners covered in our report was made by the Syrian rebel guards. We reported what happened on the scene, including what the prisoners told us, with clear sources. We have since investigated his background and are aware that he may have provided a false identity.
“We continue to report on this case and more broadly.”
Updated at 10:24 a.m. ET
