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NEW: Top CNN Reporter Forced To Admit She Was Duped By Syrian ‘Prisoner’

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4 days ago

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Less than a day after CNN admitted one of its Syrian war correspondents may have unwittingly aided in the escape of a brutal torturer, the reporter acknowledged in a statement of her own that she had been duped.

Clarissa Ward has been roundly mocked since her report last week where she entered a former Syrian prison in Damascus and freed “Adel Ghurbal,” the false name given to her by a notorious intelligence official from the Assad regime whom she found locked inside a windowless cell. Following her report, a local Syrian nonprofit identified the man as Salama Mohammad Salama, a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force intelligence who was well-known for torturing young men on bogus charges, such as not paying bribes while crossing checkpoints. “We can confirm the real identity of the man from our story last Wednesday as Salama Mohammed Salama,” Ward acknowledged on X Monday night. Her social media post was ratioed by 6,600 replies.

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“Way to go. You weren’t the least bit curious as to why he was well groomed and not dirty?” one user replied. Salama’s appearance was noted in a review of the reporting by Verify-Sy, the nonprofit which stated that he looked “well-groomed, and physically healthy, with no visible injuries or signs of torture — an incongruous portrayal of someone allegedly held in solitary confinement in the dark for 90 days.” Jon Nicosa, president of News Cycle Media, chided his colleague for her lack of journalistic integrity. “It seems @CNN skipped some crucial fact-checking before jumping on the ‘heartwarming moment’ bandwagon. They frame Ward as a hero, but through either journalistic laziness or unwittingly, she along with the entire editorial side of CNN may have been manipulated by someone with far darker intentions,” he wrote.

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In her report, Ward is seen coming across Salama’s padlocked cell before a guard accompanying her shot off the lock with a gun. Salama emerged from underneath a blanket and appeared dazed when he was brought outside, telling Ward he hadn’t seen the sun in three months. However, an image obtained by CNN on Monday confirmed him as Assad regime’s Air Force Intelligence Directorate, Salama Mohammad Salama.

Residents of Damascus described their encounters with Salama, known locally as “Abu Hamza,” an inglorious figure who helped keep Assad’s iron-fisted regime intact. According to the New York Post, he worked at several security checkpoints in Homs, where he was involved in theft and extortion against local residents, some of whom said they were pressured to become spies against their friends and neighbors. According to others, he was imprisoned at the Damascus jail for less than a month after arguing with a high-ranking officer over his share of recent extortion money.

CNN’s latest report states that efforts to reach Salama have been “unsuccessful” and that his “current whereabouts are unknown.”

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