NBC News is at the center of a new
controversy, this time focused on its chief foreign correspondent
Richard Engel. Back in 2012 he and five other members of an NBC News team were kidnapped by armed gunmen in Syria. They were held for five days. Just after his release Engel spoke on NBC
News and said this about his captors: "This is a government militia.
These are people who are loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. They are
Shiite." Well, earlier this week, a New York Times investigation
prompted Engel to revise his story and reveal he was actually captured
by Sunni militants affiliated with the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army. In
an article published on Wednesday, Engel said the kidnappers had "put on
an elaborate ruse to convince us they were Shiite Shabiha militiamen."
According to the Times investigation, NBC knew
more than it let on about the kidnappers. We speak to As’ad AbuKhalil,
professor of political science at California State University,
Stanislaus. He runs the Angry Arab News Service blog. He expressed
serious doubts about the circumstances surrounding Engel’s captivity and
release when the story first broke in December 2012.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: NBC
News is at the center of a new controversy, this time focused on its
chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel. Back in 2012, Engel and five
other members of an NBC News team were kidnapped by armed gunmen in Syria. They were held for five days. Just after his release, Engel spoke on NBC News about his captors.RICHARD ENGEL: I think I have a very good idea of who they were. This was a group known as the Shabiha. This is a government militia. These are people who are loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. They are Shiite. They were talking openly about their loyalty to the government, openly expressing their Shia faith. They are trained by Iranian Revolutionary Guard. They are allied with Hezbollah.JUAN GONZÁLEZ: That was NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel speaking after he was released in December 2012.
Well, earlier this week, a New York Times investigation prompted Engel to revise his story and reveal he was actually captured by Sunni militants affiliated with the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army. An article published on Wednesday, Engel said the kidnappers had, quote, "put on an elaborate ruse to convince us they were Shiite Shabiha militiamen." According to the Times investigation, NBC knew at the time that Engel and the others were held on a chicken farm widely known to be controlled by a Sunni criminal group. NBC was also informed of the identities of two Sunni men possibly involved in the kidnapping, but the network and Engel never relayed this information to the public and repeatedly claimed the kidnapping was done by Shiite militants linked to Syria President Assad.
