The fall of the Bashar regime Last weekend’s al-Assad sting in Syria has led to new efforts from the Biden administration to find American journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice and bring him home.
Roger Carstens, ambassador for hostage affairs, began contacting Tice. who was kidnapped in Syria 12 years ago, and efforts to contact Syrian sources to obtain information about Tiz’s whereabouts have begun. It follows a major push to repatriate Tice. To White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“The United States has an intensive effort to locate Austin Tice and bring him home to his family,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. said on Monday evening “We encourage anyone with information about Austin’s whereabouts to contact the FBI immediately.”
In this image, taken from an undated video posted on YouTube, American freelance journalist Austin Tice, who covered for an American news organization in Syria until his disappearance in August 2012, prays. Mantras in Arabic and English while closing eyes in front of the gunman. (AP photo, file)
This is who is vying for power in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
Miller points to the FBI’s reward program that offers a reward of up to $1 million to anyone with reliable information about Tice and his safe return.
The State Department’s Justice Rewards Program is also offering up to $10 million for information on Tice’s whereabouts.
“As Minister of Foreign Affairs Blinken addressed Austin’s family directly. Including in the past few days. We will not rest until he returns home safely to his loved ones,” the spokesperson confirmed.
In the same way Sullivan told ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday that the United States is working with allies in Turkey to communicate with people in Syria who may have information to help locate the prison where he may be held.
“This is a top priority for us,” Sullivan said.
Tice was 31 when he was detained in Damascus in August 2012 while reporting on the uprising against the Assad government. This is considered to be the beginning of the civil war in Syria. It ultimately ended with Assad’s ouster on Sunday after rebels captured the capital.
Tice’s family said they believe he is still alive. and reports indicate that the United States Receive information periodically about his address one official told Reuters. The reliability of this information is difficult to verify.
Freelance journalist Austin Tice disappeared in Syria in 2012 and has not been heard from since. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
It is reported that the United States Information was received over the summer from sources in Lebanon who claimed they saw Tiz alive. He is believed to have been held captive by a group linked to Hezbollah. former US official a person familiar with intelligence told Reuters.
In 2020, President Biden released a statement saying he knew. He said “unequivocally” that the Assad regime was responsible for Tice’s imprisonment and called on them to release him.
The government responded by claiming it had not kidnapped or detained the American journalist.
The Rise and Fall of BASHAR and ASMA ASSAD
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering $10 million for information related to the search for Austin Tice. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Award for Justice)
It is reported that the United States Engage in secret negotiations with Syria with the help of Lebanese intermediaries for many years. including under the Biden administration. Even if it’s not beneficial.
Syrian officials apparently refused to engage in negotiations over Tice’s release and offered only life-proof information if the U.S. It will comply with its demands, such as withdrawing troops from the country.
The last communication the Biden administration reportedly had with Syria regarding Tice was a month before the fall of Aleppo. which fell to rebel forces at the end of November.
Since the demise of Hezbollah following the Israeli campaign in Lebanon. Together with Russia and Iran once again being unable to support the Assad regime. and rebel groups later occupied the country. Tens of thousands of prisoners of war held in Syria’s notoriously brutal prisons have been released.
A man escapes from a prison in the famous Saydnaya military prison, north of Damascus, Syria, on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. A crowd gathers to enter the prison. Also known as It has been dubbed a “human slaughterhouse” after thousands of prisoners were released following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Sunday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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The famous Saydnaya Military Prison, which is called the “human slaughterhouses” where torture, disease, starvation, and secret executions take place It’s normal. It was freed on Sunday by rebels who smashed a cell where they found men, women and children being held captive. AP news agency reports
Prisoners in cities such as Aleppo, Homs, Hama and Damascus have been released. This is a new hope for relatives who have not seen their family members imprisoned in these prisons for many years.
In a speech on Saturday Biden expressed hope about Tice and said “We believe he is still alive. We think we can bring him back. But we don’t have direct evidence of that yet.”
“We have to determine where he is,” the president added.
