Syria’s new management blames Assad for anguish of Austin Tice’s household as search continues

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 he was reporting on the Syrian civil war.

“We maintain Bashar al-Assad and his legal regime accountable for the implications 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, stated in an interview Wednesday.

Arnaot stated the interim authorities had tried to seek out Tice, who’s 43, to reunite him along with his household however has to date had no luck.

“We tried as a lot as potential to seek out details about Austin and return him to his mom, however we’ve got not reached any outcome,” he stated.

A video emerged on-line in a single day claiming to point out a lacking American alive within the city of Dhiyabia, simply exterior the Syrian capital, Damascus, sparking hypothesis that it might be Tice. However a senior U.S. official informed NBC Information it was not Tice, and a supply near Tice’s household stated they don’t consider the person within the video is their lacking son.

The person within the video as a substitute recognized himself to NBC Information as “Travis” from Missouri, declining to supply a final title earlier than later figuring out himself as Travis Timmerman, final seen in Budapest, Hungary, in Could. He stated that he had crossed into Syria on foot earlier than he was detained and that he had been held in jail for months.

Tice, from Houston, disappeared in 2012 simply days after he celebrated his thirty first birthday in Syria, the place he was reporting on the civil battle that started a 12 months earlier.

Video emerged shortly after he disappeared exhibiting masked males holding him at gunpoint, however the U.S. authorities questioned the video’s authenticity, suggesting it was staged.

As a substitute, the State Division stated Tice was believed to be within the custody of the Syrian authorities — a cost Assad’s regime vehemently denied.

In an interview in Damascus, Syrian journalist Saher al-Ahmad stated he had seen Tice on two events whereas he himself was imprisoned at a facility within the capital’s Kafr Sousa district. He stated he didn’t communicate with him.

The final time he noticed Tice was in July 2022, stated Ahmad, who described Tice as showing to be in “considerably good” situation.

Nonetheless, he stated, “he was skinny after I noticed him. His neck bones have been barely protruding, however he was in a position to stroll and transfer as a result of they allowed him and different prisoners to train and stroll for one hour within the jail hall.”

Typically, Ahmad stated, the circumstances international prisoners have been held in have been “glorious” in contrast with these endured by Syrian prisoners, and he stated Tice gave the impression to be held in a big cell alone.

With Assad overthrown by insurgent forces, Tice’s household has expressed renewed hope that they are going to be reunited with their son.

In an interview with “NBC Nightly Information with Lester Holt,” Tice’s dad and mom, Debra and Marc Tice, stated that they had acquired data that earlier than the rebels ousted Assad’s authorities, their son not solely was alive however was being properly cared-for. Nonetheless, they stated, that they had no readability about who was holding their son.

“We’re simply ready to see, as a result of they’re attending to the prisons little by little — and among the bigger prisons, we all know these should not locations that Austin is,” Debra Tice stated.

President Joe Biden, providing a sliver of hope, stated Sunday, “We expect we are able to get him again, however we’ve got no direct proof of that but.”

Talking at an Atlantic Council occasion in Washington on Wednesday, Jen Daskal, deputy assistant to the president and deputy homeland safety adviser, stated the Biden administration was open to speaking to anybody who may need details about Tice.

Requested whether or not the administration could be prepared to work with Islamist insurgent forces in Syria who lately toppled the Assad regime to safe Tice’s freedom, Daskal stated, “We’re extraordinarily centered on doing every part potential we are able to to find Austin Tice and are speaking to anyone who’s prepared to speak to us, who may need data.”

The administration is “terribly centered on that effort,” she stated, with out elaborating.

Syria’s new insurgent coalition is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a bunch 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 Division providing a $10 million bounty for details about him. 

In more moderen years, Jolani has tried to undertaking a extra reasonable picture, together with chopping ties with Al Qaeda and renouncing worldwide extremism. 

Whereas Biden welcomed Assad’s ouster, he has additionally expressed warning at a “second of threat and uncertainty as all of us flip to the query of what comes subsequent.” 

Richard Engel, Gabe Joselow and Ammar Cheikh Omar reported from Damascus. Chantal Da Silva reported from London.