CNN finally confirmed the man's identity in a purportedly emotional rescue video shared last week.
On Monday, news outlets published the following article: article A man who called himself Adel Garbal, video According to Chief Correspondent Clarissa Ward, it was actually Salama Mohammad Salama, also known as Abu Hamza, a lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Service under Bashar al-Assad's regime.
However, neither CNN nor Ward acknowledged any fault or provided an explanation for their failure to identify the man in their initial reports. Instead, they appeared to present the information as a new discovery.
“From what we heard last Wednesday, we can confirm that this man is Salama Mohammed Salama.”
Last Wednesday, news outlets aired a video of the alleged rescue of a man claiming to be a Syrian civilian who had been held in a secret prison for three months. After Syrian rebel guards reportedly shot down the padlock on his cell, Ward and his team found a man inside hiding under a blanket.
The man said he had not had food or water for several days and had not seen sunlight for several months. However, viewers questioned the man's clean and well-groomed appearance.
Verify-Sy released a report on Sunday that it said revealed the man's true identity. The official claimed to be an officer of the Assad regime and not a Syrian civilian as he presented himself.
Local residents told media outlets that Hamza was “involved in theft, extortion and extortion of informants from residents.” He was reportedly imprisoned “due to a dispute with senior executives over the distribution of profits from extorted funds.”
In response to the bombshell report, CNN said, “We have since investigated his background and are aware that he may have provided a false identity.”
“No one other than the CNN team knew about our plans to visit the prison buildings featured in the news coverage that day. Events happened exactly as they appear in our film,” CNN continued. . “The decision to release the prisoners covered in our report was taken by the Syrian rebel guards.”
CNN published an article on Monday confirming Verify-Sy's report.
“According to local residents, the man filmed by CNN being released from a Damascus prison by rebels is a former intelligence officer for the deposed Syrian regime and is not in jail as he claimed. “He was not an ordinary person,” the article said. read.
CNN said, “We have obtained a photo showing the identity of the man. He is said to be Lieutenant Salama Mohammad Salama of the Assad regime's Air Force Intelligence Directorate.”
The outlet said it could not confirm why the man was held in prison, but Verify-Sy reported that he had been in prison for less than a month.
CNN reported that “rebel guards handed him over to the Syrian Red Crescent Society. The medical relief group later posted his photo on social media and said they had returned the freed prisoner to his relatives in Damascus.” ” he said. “Mr. Salama's current whereabouts are unknown.”
Ward released a short statement about X, linking to the CNN article.
“From our conversation last Wednesday, we can confirm that this man is Salama Mohamed Salama,” she said. I wrote.
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