CNN’s dramatic report of rescuing a “wrongfully detained” prisoner from a secret facility in Syria has unraveled into a fiasco after it was revealed that the so-called victim was actually a notorious member of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime, infamous for torturing civilians and extorting bribes.

Last week, journalist Clarissa Ward led the charge in what she breathlessly called “one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed” during her 20-year career. Footage of the dramatic rescue showed Ward and her team escorting the supposed prisoner — who introduced himself as Adel Ghurbal — out of a grim, windowless cell. Ghurbal claimed he had been detained for three months, oblivious to the regime’s downfall.

But the story quickly fell apart. On Sunday, Verify-Sy, a respected fact-checking organization, exposed Ghurbal’s true identity as Salama Mohammad Salama, a first lieutenant in Assad’s air force intelligence with a rap sheet of war crimes. Known by his chilling alias “Abu Hamza,” Salama was implicated in extortion, torture, and even the killing of civilians during the Syrian civil war.

Verify-Sy’s findings were damning: the “prisoner” appeared too well-groomed and healthy to have endured the conditions he described. His unflinching gaze at the sky — after supposedly spending 90 days in darkness — raised further suspicions. Adding insult to injury, the organization found no records of anyone named “Adel Ghurbal,” eventually linking him to Salama’s sordid past.

Residents familiar with Salama’s activities described him as a monster. He ran security checkpoints in Homs, shaking down civilians for money, forcing informants into service, and mercilessly torturing young men who refused to pay bribes. Some victims never survived his bogus accusations. His imprisonment in the secret facility, locals say, wasn’t the result of heroics by rebel fighters but a petty dispute with a superior over dividing ill-gotten gains.

Despite these revelations, CNN seems eager to shift blame. “We are aware that he may have given a false identity,” the network meekly admitted to The New York Post, vowing to “continue our reporting.” Yet the fanfare surrounding their “exclusive” makes their failure to conduct even basic background checks glaringly obvious.

To top it off, CNN’s statement defending the rescue’s authenticity is laughably self-serving. “No one other than the CNN team was aware of our plans,” they claimed, as if secrecy absolves them of accountability.

Ward and her team, escorted by a rebel fighter, confidently portrayed Salama as an innocent victim. He was fed a meal and whisked away by EMTs in the glowing narrative. Now, the story stands as a case study in reckless journalism, where dramatics outweighed diligence.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)