USA hopes for the return of a reporter missing in Syria
Following the fall of the ruler Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the US government is hoping to find the US journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted near Damascus in 2012.
09.12.2024, 11:01
SDA
"We believe he is alive," President Joe Biden told reporters in Washington on Sunday (local time). He believes he can bring Tice back to the USA. "Assad should be held accountable," Biden added.
Tice was a freelance journalist in Syria when unknown persons 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 emerged showing Austin with a group of gunmen. In 2022, the US government announced that it knew with certainty "that he had been detained by the Syrian regime". The Syrian government rejected this at the time.
At a press conference on Friday, Tice's family stated that they had good reason to believe that the 43-year-old was alive. The current situation could contribute to his brother's release, Tice's sister told the Washington Post. "In chaos, there are also opportunities. For many of us, that's exactly what we're focusing on now," she added. The Houston-born journalist had reported for several media outlets, including the Washington Post and McClatchy Group newspapers.
