(MENAFN) CNN has acknowledged that a man it portrayed as a former prisoner freed from a Syrian jail was actually a former intelligence officer involved in multiple crimes. The report, which featured CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward entering a "secret prison" in Damascus, initially claimed the man, identified as Adel Ghurbal, was an ordinary citizen detained unjustly. However, it was later revealed that the man was Salama Mohammad Salama, also known as Abu Hamza, a former first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence, involved in extortion, theft, and human rights abuses.

CNN had claimed the man was detained for several months, but local sources clarified that his imprisonment was due to a financial dispute with a superior officer over extorted money. After this information surfaced, CNN revised its report, acknowledging Salama's background in Syrian intelligence but stating that his exact circumstances of detention remain unclear.

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