DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s new management says it holds ousted President Bashar al-Assad liable for the “ache inflicted” for years on the household of Austin Tice, because the search goes on for the American journalist who went lacking within the nation greater than a decade in the past whereas reporting on the Syrian civil war.
“We maintain Bashar al-Assad and his legal regime accountable for the implications of Austin’s disappearance and the ache inflicted on his mom — ache, tears, and separation,” Obaida Al-Arnaot, official spokesperson and head of the political affairs division of Syria’s interim authorities, informed NBC News in an interview Wednesday.
Arnaot stated Syria’s interim authorities had tried to seek out Tice to reunite him together with his household, however has thus far had no luck finding the journalist, now 43.
“We tried as a lot as doable to seek out details about Austin and return him to his mom, however we’ve got not reached any consequence,” he stated.
Tice, from Houston, went missing in 2012 simply days after celebrating his thirty first birthday in Syria, the place he was reporting on the civil battle that started a yr earlier.
Video emerged shortly after his disappearance displaying masked males holding him at gunpoint, however the U.S. authorities questioned the video’s authenticity, suggesting it was staged.
Instead, the State Department stated Tice was believed to be within the custody of the Syrian authorities — a cost vehemently denied by the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
With Assad overthrown by insurgent forces, Tice’s household has expressed renewed hope that they’re going to be reunited with their son.
In an interview with “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” Tice’s dad and mom, Debra and Marc Tice, stated that they had obtained info that earlier than the rebels ousted Assad’s authorities, their son was not solely alive however being properly cared for. However, they stated that they had no readability about who was holding their son captive.
“We’re simply ready to see, as a result of they’re attending to the prisons little by little — and a few of the bigger prisons, we all know these aren’t locations that Austin is,” Debra Tice stated.
“We suppose we are able to get him again, however we’ve got no direct proof of that but,” President Joe Biden stated on Sunday, providing a sliver of hope.
Speaking at an Atlantic Council occasion in Washington on Wednesday, Jen Daskal, deputy assistant to the president and deputy Homeland Security advisor, stated the Biden administration was open to speaking to anybody who may need details about Tice.
Asked if the administration could be keen to work with Islamist insurgent forces in Syria who lately toppled the Assad regime to safe the journalist’s freedom, Daskal stated: “We are extraordinarily targeted on doing every part doable we are able to to find Austin Tice, and are speaking to anyone who’s keen to speak to us, who may need info.”
The administration is “terribly targeted on that effort,” she stated, however didn’t elaborate additional.
Syria’s new insurgent coalition is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a gaggle that emerged from an Al Qaeda affiliate. HTS’ chief, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, was amongst these battling American forces in Iraq following their 2003 invasion, with the State Department holding a $10 million bounty for details about him.
In newer years, Jolani has made efforts to mission a extra reasonable picture, together with chopping ties with Al Qaeda and renouncing worldwide extremism.
While Biden welcomed Assad’s ouster, he has additionally expressed warning at a “second of threat and uncertainty as all of us flip to the query of what comes subsequent.”
Richard Engel and Gabe Joselow reported from Damascus, and Chantal Da Silva from London.
