DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s new management says it holds ousted President Bashar al-Assad chargeable 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 battle.
“We maintain Bashar al-Assad and his felony regime accountable for the results 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, instructed NBC News in an interview Wednesday.
Arnaot mentioned Syria’s interim authorities had tried to search out Tice to reunite him along with his household, however has up to now had no luck finding the journalist, now 43.
“We tried as a lot as doable to search out details about Austin and return him to his mom, however we now have not reached any outcome,” he mentioned.
It comes as a video emerged on-line in a single day claiming to indicate a lacking American alive within the city of Dhiyabia, simply outdoors the Syrian capital Damascus, sparking hypothesis that it could possibly be Tice. But a supply near Tice’s household instructed NBC News that they don’t imagine the video is their lacking son.
The man within the video as an alternative recognized himself to NBC News as “Travis” from Missouri, declining to offer his final title. He mentioned he had crossed into Syria on foot earlier than being detained and had been held in jail for round seven months.
Tice, from Houston, went lacking 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 exhibiting masked males holding him at gunpoint, however the U.S. authorities questioned the video’s authenticity, suggesting it was staged.
Instead, the State Department mentioned 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 will be reunited with their son.
In an interview with “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” Tice’s mother and father, Debra and Marc Tice, mentioned they’d acquired data that earlier than the rebels ousted Assad’s authorities, their son was not solely alive however being effectively cared for. However, they mentioned they’d 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 mentioned.
“We suppose we are able to get him again, however we now have no direct proof of that but,” President Joe Biden mentioned 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, mentioned the Biden administration was open to speaking to anybody who may need details about Tice.
Asked if the administration can be keen to work with Islamist insurgent forces in Syria who lately toppled the Assad regime to safe the journalist’s freedom, Daskal mentioned: “We are extraordinarily centered on doing all the things doable we are able to to find Austin Tice, and are speaking to anyone who’s keen to speak to us, who may need data.”
The administration is “terribly centered on that effort,” she mentioned, 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 venture a extra average picture, together with slicing ties with Al Qaeda and renouncing worldwide extremism.
While Biden welcomed Assad’s ouster, he has additionally expressed warning at a “second of danger 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.