Washington — The family of Austin TiceThe independent journalist who was kidnapped in Syria more than 12 years ago said he was told he was alive and well, and that they were frustrated by the U.S. government’s failure to get him take him home.
“We have a major source that has already been verified throughout our government, Austin Tice is alive, Austin Tice is being treated well. And there’s no doubt about it,” Debra Tice, his mother, said at a news conference Friday. at the National Press Club.
She said her son “is being taken care of and is doing well.”
Tice, a Marine veteran and journalist who worked for several news outlets, including CBS News, the Washington Post and McClatchy, disappeared on Aug. 14, 2012, while reporting on the Syrian civil war. A short video that appeared weeks later on YouTube and Facebook showed a distressed, blindfolded Tice with his apparent captors. That was the last time he was seen.
No one has ever claimed responsibility for his disappearance, but President Biden said the United States knew “with certainty that he was in the custody of the Syrian regime.”
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The family said the U.S. government was preventing the release of information about the source of Austin Tice’s well-being. But when asked if her son is being held by the Syrian government, Debra Tice says, “We always knew.”
Marc Tice, his father, said the new information “was very different” from previous leads.
“We are confident that this information is recent. It indicates that earlier this year, Austin is alive and being treated,” he said.
Debra Tice added that the information is credible because “nearly every US government security entity has verified it.”
The missing journalist’s parents, brothers and sisters traveled to Washington this week to meet with government officials. Syrian rebel offensive challenges the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The family said the meeting had been in the works since July and was not prompted by the situation in Syria.
They met with the National Security Council on Friday, including Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, before their news conference. They met with the State Department on Thursday.
The family said they asked whether the offensive in Syria could be exploited in the journalist’s favor and implored Sullivan to commit to Mr. Biden contacting Assad directly. But the family received no assurances, they said.
“There seems to be a huge disconnect between what President Biden has dictated to Austin, which is to do everything we can to bring him home, and the actions and behavior of the people who sit directly below him ” said his brother Simon. Tice said.
Debra Tice said she is optimistic about the impact President-elect Donald Trump could have on the matter when he takes office in January. She said Trump, during his first term, “had an obsession” with his son and coming home, but that members of his administration put up roadblocks.
“Mike Pompeo and John Bolton did everything they could to prevent this from happening,” she said of the CIA director turned Trump secretary of state and national security adviser.
