President Biden Urges Syria To Release Missing US Journalist Austin Tice

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Syria to release American journalist and former US Marine Austin Tice, who is understood to be the longest-held American journalist in history.

Tice, at the time aged 31, 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.

President Biden said in a statement that Washington knows “with certainty” that Tice has been held by Syria’s government. This is based on intelligence that Tice was spotted at a Damascus hospital in 2016 being treated for dehydration.

The White House has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his safe return.

Washington suspended its diplomatic presence in Syria in 2012, at the start of the country’s civil war.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Roger Carstens, Biden’s special envoy for hostage affairs, will “continue to engage with the Syrian government.”

Damascus denies claims of having detained Tice.