WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden mentioned Sunday that the US authorities believes lacking American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared 12 years in the past close to the Syrian capital, is alive and that Washington is dedicated to bringing him residence after Bashar Assad’s ouster from energy in Damascus.
“We predict we will get him again,” Biden instructed reporters on the White Home, whereas acknowledging that “now we have no direct proof” of his standing. “Assad ought to be held accountable.”
Biden mentioned officers should nonetheless determine precisely the place Tice is after his disappearance in August 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested space west of Damascus.
“We’ve remained dedicated to returning him to his household,” he mentioned.
Tice, who’s from Houston, has had his work revealed by The Washington Submit, McClatchy newspapers and different retailers.
A video launched weeks after Tice went lacking confirmed him blindfolded and held by armed males and saying, “Oh, Jesus.” He has not been heard from since. Syria has publicly denied that it was holding him.
America has no new proof that Tice is alive, however continues to function underneath that assumption, based on a US official.
The official, who was not approved to remark publicly and spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned the US will proceed to work to determine the place he’s and to attempt to carry him residence.
His mom, Debra, mentioned at a information convention Friday in Washington that the household had data from a “vital supply,” whom she didn’t determine, establishing that her son was alive.
“He’s being cared for and he’s effectively — we do know that,” she mentioned.
The Tice household met this previous week with officers on the State Division and the White Home.
“To everybody in Syria that hears this, please remind those that we’re ready for Austin,” Debra Tice mentioned in feedback that hostage advocacy teams unfold on social media Sunday. “We all know that when he comes out, he’s going to be pretty dazed & he’s going to wish a lot of care & course. Direct him to his household please!”
Supply hyperlink
