WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden stated 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 think we can get him back,” Biden instructed reporters on the White Home, whereas acknowledging that “we have no direct evidence” of his standing. “Assad should be held accountable.”
Biden stated officers should nonetheless establish precisely the place Tice is after his disappearance in August 2012 at a checkpoint in a contested space west of Damascus.
“We’ve remained committed to returning him to his family,” he stated.
Tice, who’s from Houston, has had his work printed by The Washington Publish, McClatchy newspapers and different shops.
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, in keeping with a US official.
The official, who was not approved to remark publicly and spoke on situation of anonymity, stated the US will proceed to work to establish the place he’s and to attempt to carry him residence.
His mom, Debra, stated at a information convention Friday in Washington that the household had info from a “significant source,” whom she didn’t establish, establishing that her son was alive.
“He is being cared for and he is well — we do know that,” she stated.
The Tice household met this previous week with officers on the State Division and the White Home.
“To everyone in Syria that hears this, please remind people that we’re waiting for Austin,” Debra Tice stated in feedback that hostage advocacy teams unfold on social media Sunday. “We know that when he comes out, he’s going to be fairly dazed & he’s going to need lots of care & direction. Direct him to his family please!”
