The mother of Austin Tize, the American journalist kidnapped in Syria, said Monday that she met with Syria's new leader in Damascus and said she hoped “a new page will be opened” in the more than decade-long search for her son.
Debra Tice held a press conference in Damascus on Monday after meeting with Ahmed al-Shara, who led the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in a surprise attack last month that toppled President Bashar al-Assad and ended more than 50 years of the Assad family's rule. in Syria. Syria's state news agency also reported on the meeting and released pictures of him talking to Mr. al-Shara at the presidential palace.
Although there was no new information on her son's whereabouts, Ms. Tice, who arrived in Damascus on Saturday, said she hoped Syria's new rebel leaders would help her and Syrian families still searching for their missing loved ones after being held in prison by the old regime. famous prisons.
“It was wonderful to learn of their dedication and determination to bring my son and your sons home,” Ms. Tice said of the Syrians searching for the missing. your loved ones too. “They know what we're going through”
Ms. Tice said her son was still being held captive as far as she knew, but the turmoil since Mr. Assad's ouster had made it more difficult to determine his whereabouts.
“It's like starting all over again,” he said.
Mr. Tice was abducted in 2012 at a checkpoint outside Damascus. Not long after, he was detained on video by blindfolded and masked men at gunpoint. Former US officials have said they believe the video is a ploy by the government to blame the rebels for his disappearance.
Former and current US officials said Mr. Tice managed to escape through a prison cell window a few weeks after his arrest, but was caught by Syrian intelligence.
President Joe Biden said in December, after Mr. Assad was ousted, that U.S. officials believed Mr. Tice was still being held captive and hoped to bring him home, adding that “no direct evidence” status.
Officials in his administration have been searching for Mr. Tice for years, including a Visit to Damascus by the Special Representative for Foreclosures in December. The White House too gave the list to the rebel group Of the former Syrian officials who may have information about Mr. Tice, a Freelance journalist from Houston Writing for The Washington Post and other publications.
But Ms. Tice recently criticized the Biden administration, saying it did not negotiate hard enough for her son's release.
Mrs. Tice expressed her hope for the future administration of Donald Trump. “Things will change,” he said. “I'm looking forward to it. His people have already contacted me.”
It was Ms Tice's first trip to Syria since 2015, when she met with officials from the Assad government, who have never confirmed whether they are detaining her son and later suspended his visa.
During her meeting with Mr. Al-Shara, Ms. Tice said, he spoke to her about his time in prison. In 2003, Mr. al-Shara joined al-Qaeda to fight the US invasion of Iraq, while Mr. Tice once served as a Marine. Arab media believe that Mr. al-Shara spent years in a US prison in Iraq.
After leading al-Qaeda's Syrian branch in the early days of the 13-year rebellion against Mr. Assad, Mr. al-Sharaa reformed the group as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in 2017 and sought to distance it from the former al-Qaeda. .
Former and current US officials have said they believe Mr Tice is being held at several security service prisons, including Branch 248 and Branch 215, which are believed to be military intelligence facilities.
Ms. Tice, who said she visited both places during her trip to Syria, described them as a “terrible, horrible nightmare.”