USA hopes for the return of a reporter missing in Syria

US hostage

USA hopes for the return of a reporter missing in Syria

Twelve years ago, Austin Tice was kidnapped near Damascus. The family hopes that the change of power in Syria could contribute to his release.

After the overthrow of ruler Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the US government hopes to be able to find US journalist Austin Tice, who was kidnapped near Damascus in 2012. “We believe he is alive,” President Joe Biden told reporters in Washington on Sunday (local time). He thinks Tice is in the USA to be able to retrieve. “Assad should be held accountable,” Biden added.

Tice was in Syria as a freelance journalist when unknown people abducted him at a checkpoint in a suburb of the capital Damascus in August 2012. A few weeks later, according to his family, a video surfaced that showed Austin with a group of armed people. In 2022, the US government said it knew with certainty “that he was being held by the Syrian regime.” The Syrian government rejected this at the time.

Tice’s family said at a press conference on Friday that they had good sources that the now 43-year-old was alive. The current situation could help get his brother released, Tice’s sister told the Washington Post. “In chaos there is opportunity. For many of us, that is exactly what we are focused on now,” she added. The Houston-born journalist had reported for several media outlets, including the Washington Post and McClatchy Group newspapers.