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US dismisses Syrian denials and urges release of journalist Austin Tice
The US State Department on Wednesday (August 17) called on Syria to release American journalist Austin Tice, who is believed to have been abducted ten years ago near Damascus while reporting on the Syrian conflict.
Tice is from Houston and his work had been published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets. He went to Syria to cover the conflict that started in 2011.
Tice, a freelance reporter, went missing in 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested area west of the capital Damascus. He appeared in a video a month later blindfolded and held by armed men, saying “Oh, Jesus.”
No group has claimed responsibility for his abduction.
He is one of two Americans who went missing in Syria. The other is Majd Kamalmaz, a psychologist from Virginia, who vanished in Syria in 2017.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Damascus “denies it had kidnapped or is holding any American citizen on its territories.”
Thank you @PeterHuvos,
— Debra Tice (@DebraTice) January 2, 2018
May we SOON see Austin safely home. https://t.co/saTAcILYX7
The statement said: “The US issued last week misleading and illogical statements by the American president and secretary of state that included baseless accusations against Syria that it had kidnapped or detained American citizens including former US Marine Austin Tice.”
Biden’s comments last week came in a statement released by the White House to mark the 10th anniversary of Tice’s abduction, which took place when he was in Syria covering its lengthy conflict.
Syrian regime denies holding missing American journalist
Biden's remarks were the clearest indication so far that the US is certain Tice is being held by the government of President Bashar Assad.
State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters that the US government has pushed Syria to return every American.
On Tice's case specifically, he said, the Biden administration has “engaged extensively – and that includes directly – with Syrian officials and through third parties.”
Joe Biden urges Syria to secure missing American journalist’s return
“Syria has never acknowledged holding him,” Price said of Tice, adding that “we are not going to be deterred in our efforts. We are going to pursue every avenue for securing Austin’s safe return.”
The Syrian Foreign Ministry denied in its statement having any secret contacts with US officials on the missing Americans, adding that “any official dialogue with the American government will only be public based on the respect of Syria's sovereignty.”
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