US hostage envoy arrives in Syria as part of search for Austin Tice

 

FILE – Debra Tice, mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012, holds a dated portrait of him during a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on July 20, 2017.

WASHINGTON —

A group of U.S. diplomats were in Syria to hold talks Friday with the country’s new leaders and seek information about the whereabouts of detained American journalist Austin Tice, following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, former special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein, and the Biden administration’s chief envoy for hostage negotiations, Roger Carstens, are scheduled to hold talks with Syria’s interim leaders, the State Department said early Friday.

“They hope to uncover information about the fate of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and other American citizens who disappeared under the Assad regime,” a State Department spokesperson said.

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A Texas native and former U.S. Marine turned journalist, Tice has been held in Syria since 2012, when he was detained at a checkpoint in Damascus. Aside from a brief video after his capture, little has been heard or seen of him since.

The longest-held American journalist abroad, Tice freelanced for outlets including The Washington Post, CBS and McClatchy.

Kamalmaz, a Syrian-American psychologist who was treating refugees from the war-torn country, was stopped at a government checkpoint in 2017. He had traveled to Syria to check on an elderly relative. In May 2024, the U.S. learned Kamalmaz had died in custody.

In a statement released in June, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The Syrian government must answer for what happened to Majd.”

His family in July filed a lawsuit against the Syrian government for wrongful death and false imprisonment.

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The fall of the Assad government this month has fostered cautious optimism among Tice’s family that he will be among the thousands of prisoners being released.

“What we’re hoping is that as people that are coming into Damascus are opening the prisons, that, by the power of God, they’ll open the one that Austin’s in,” Tice’s mother Debra told VOA last week.

Tice’s family said this month that it has received credible information from a source vetted by the U.S. government that confirms Tice is alive and indicates he may be detained in the Damascus area.

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The U.S. government has said it believes that Tice is still alive and that locating his whereabouts is a priority. Syria’s transitional government has said the search for Tice is ongoing.

The trip Friday is the first time American diplomats have formally visited Syria in more than a decade. The U.S. closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012.

“They will be engaging directly with the Syrian people, including members of civil society, activists, members of different communities, and other Syrian voices about their vision for the future of their country and how the United States can help support them,” the State Department spokesperson said.

 

By：VOA