Antony Blinken says the US is ‘engaged with Syria’ in efforts to free missing American journalist in Syria Austin Tice.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States is “engaged with Syria, engaged with third countries” in an effort to bring detained journalist Austin Tice home.
Tice was a US Marine Corps veteran, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 after entering the country illegally and working as a journalist alongside the CIA-backed “Free Syrian Army” rebel group in Homs and Damascus.
There have been numerous efforts to secure Tice’s release, including by the U.S. government, his family, and international organizations. In 2018, the FBI announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to his safe return.
In 2020, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo communicated with Syrian officials to secure his release but the Trump administration has shown no interest to compromise with Damascus. Hence, the talks failed.
Recently, Antony Blinken said in remarks at a Washington Post event on World Press Freedom Day, “We are extensively engaged with regard to Austin, engaged with Syria, engaged with third countries, seeking to find a way to get him home. And we’re not going to relent until we do,”
The third country is most probably Oman.
In this video, Kevork Almassian goes through the case of Austin Tice expressing support for his release.
Kevork Almassian is an award-winning political commentator from Syria. He is the founder of Syriana Analysis and is known for his contribution to the literature on the Syrian war.