US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Washington contacted “directly with Syrian officials” to release American journalist Austin Tice, who has been in custody in Syria for 10 years.
“The United States has actively engaged, including directly with Syrian officials and through third parties, in efforts to secure the release of detained American journalist Austin Tice,” Price told reporters.
As for Austin Tice, the United States “has actively engaged, including directly, with Syrian officials and through third parties.” @StateDeptSpox He speaks.
My February report on this US-Syria dialogue: https://t.co/BotXbjHQ3s
— Elizabeth Hagedorn (@ElizHagedorn) August 15, 2022
Yesterday, Sunday, August 14, marked the tenth anniversary of Tees’s capture, believed to have been kidnapped in a suburb of Damascus, Syria, in 2012.
“He’s definitely in Syria, he’s definitely in government custody,” Theis’ mother, Debra Theis, said of the intelligence she knew, noting that her son was in Syria “to report on the country’s civil war at the time to show true truth.” The cost of war to the world.
Source: NPR.