News organization CNN is investigating after discovering that a man featured in its report on a dramatic prison rescue in Damascus was not a civilian prisoner, but a former intelligence officer under Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The original report, aired on December 14, showed CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward and her team accompanying Syrian opposition fighters into a prison. Inside a locked cell, they found a man hiding under a blanket.
“I think this is one of the most extraordinary things I’ve witnessed in my career” CNN’s @clarissaward‘s team free a man held captive in a secret #Syrian jail for three months.
He said he had no idea Assad’s regime had fallen.
Watch Clarissa’s incredible reporting.⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SqMxPMBluW
— Julia Chatterley (@jchatterleyCNN) December 11, 2024
He claimed his name was Adel Ghurbal and that he had been imprisoned for three months by Assad’s forces. The footage, showing Ward speaking to the visibly shaken man and documenting his release, went viral and was widely praised.
Shortly after the broadcast, questions about the man’s identity emerged. A Syrian fact-checking group, Verify-Sy, reported that the man was actually Salama Mohammad Salama, a first lieutenant in Assad’s Air Force Intelligence Directorate.
Local residents identified him as a notorious figure involved in extortion, abuses, and coercion in Homs. Verify-Sy claimed Salama’s imprisonment was due to a dispute with a higher-ranking officer and lasted less than a month.
The American network CNN admitted that the person its correspondent claimed was rescued by their team from a prison in #Damascus is not a detainee but an intelligence officer in the #Assad regime, known for torturing prisoners, and his name is Salama Mohammed Salama. pic.twitter.com/OAvPnvysWp
— Al-Estiklal English (@alestiklalen) December 17, 2024
Following its own investigation, CNN acknowledged in an article published this week, that it had been deceived by a man claiming to be a Syrian prisoner, who was actually a former intelligence officer under the Assad regime.
Using facial recognition and testimony from Syrian sources, CNN verified that the man had given a false identity. CNN stated: “The events transpired as they appear in our film. The decision to release the prisoner was made by the rebel guard. We reported the scene as it unfolded, including what the prisoner told us.”
The network emphasized that its team had no knowledge of the man’s background at the time. Ward and her team had been following leads on missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice when they stumbled upon the prison.
Critics questioned whether CNN had vetted the man’s story thoroughly, noting inconsistencies in his condition and behavior. However, fellow journalists defended Ward’s integrity, pointing to the difficulties of reporting in chaotic war zones.
CNN has since updated its original story and continues to investigate Salama’s background. His current whereabouts remain unknown.
