Investigative report reveals Assad personally ordered chemical weapons use
An investigative report published by Al Jazeera revealed alarming details regarding Syria’s chemical weapons file, based on a major hack of Bashar al-Assad’s regime before and after its fall.
The report, part of the program “Al-Mutahari” in the episode “Assad’s Remnants Leaks… The Big Hack”, relied on audio recordings and leaked documents, depicting a fully operational clandestine network reorganizing itself politically, militarily, and financially through external alliances, money, and weapons.
The investigation highlighted that the most critical evidence came from a direct wiretap of Major General Bassam Al-Hassan, Assad’s former security advisor and head of the chemical weapons file, one of the key figures linked to the program.
In a documented phone call, Al-Hassan stated that the decision to use chemical weapons was made directly by the former Syrian president, who assigned two prominent figures: Badi’ Ali, responsible for coordinating with the air force, and Brigadier Ghassan Abbas, head of the chemical unit, who later died of a heart attack.
This testimony is highly significant as it directly links the former regime’s leader to the decision to deploy chemical weapons, one of the most controversial and important issues of the Syrian war.
Internal Conflicts and Alliances
The investigation also revealed intense internal conflicts among regime figures over money and influence, including recorded verbal clashes between Ayman Jaber and Suhail Al-Hassan.
The recordings documented field alliances with Iranian and Russian actors and attempts to reform secret military units on the Syrian coast.
The hack included not only technical breaches but also in-person meetings and advanced social engineering and impersonation techniques, led by a man named Mousa, who claimed to have been Assad’s personal aide from 2008 to 2012 before documenting the movements of the remnants.
Through these unprecedented leaks, Al-Mutahari reopens the chemical weapons file, shedding light on the decision-making mechanisms and the chain of orders and direct responsibilities in crimes that remain under international calls for accountability.
