Syria on Wednesday denied that it is holding missing American journalist and former US Marine Austin Tice, on the tenth anniversary of his going missing. Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it objected to US President Joe Biden’s accusation last week that Washington knows “with certainty” that Tice has been held by Syria’s government, based on intelligence that Tice was spotted at a Damascus hospital in 2016 being treated for dehydration. It would make Tice the longest-held American journalist in history.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it refutes “invalid accusations against the Syrian government of kidnapping or arresting U.S. citizens, among them Austin Tice, a service member in the U.S. Army.” The statement added that Syria “emphasizes that any official dialogue or communication with the U.S. government side will only be public and based on the rule of respecting the sovereignty and independence and unity of the Syrian Arab Republic’s land.” It noted that Tice entered Syria illegally.
Tice went missing in Syria in August 2012 while freelance reporting from Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad. Five weeks later, a video was released on the YouTube platform purporting to show him being kidnapped. It showed armed men leading him blindfolded along a hill, as he recited a prayer in Arabic and exclaimed, “Oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus.” However, former American officials claimed that the footage was a ploy by the Syrian regime to make it appear as if a rebel group had organized his kidnapping. Neither the Syrian government nor any rebel group has claimed responsibility for Tice’s abduction. Since the video was released, there have been no further public images released of him.