Following the Syrian government’s collapse this weekend, the US administration is trying to learn more about Austin Tice’s whereabouts.
The dramatic fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s administration provides an opportunity to acquire new information concerning the American journalist held in Syria more than a decade ago, according to current and former US officials.
One US official told AWN that there is a “full-court press” to identify Tice, and that the country is “leaving no stone unturned.” On Sunday, the FBI renewed its $1 million reward offer for information leading to Tice’s safe return. The US State Department is also offering a reward of up to $10 million for information about Tice.
The chief US hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, has come to Beirut, Lebanon, to meet with stakeholders. The US has communicated to Syria’s largest rebel force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, that Tice is a priority.
“In all of our communications with parties that we know talk to HTS, we have sent very clearly the message that, as they move through Syria liberating prisons, our top priority is the return of Austin Tice,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday.
The US believes Tice was detained by the Assad regime, although the Syrian leader has never acknowledged doing so. The US assumes Tice is still alive because there is “no information to the contrary,” according to White House national security spokeswoman John Kirby. Tice’s mother stated last week that the family has received new information that her son is “being cared for, and he is well.”
A second US official told AWN that the US is looking at all jails it knew about and those it is now learning about in the aftermath of the regime’s demise as potential sources of intelligence. The US is seeking to confirm which jails have been examined and cleared, as well as to locate those that have not. The United States is also attempting to obtain any resources or equipment that could aid in the search for Tice.
One former senior US official stated that “it’s certainly a fleeting opportunity” to obtain additional information about Tice, who was captured at a checkpoint near the Syrian capital of Damascus in August 2012.
“The intelligence community, including the CIA, has struggled to operate in this complex environment… Since the start of the Syrian civil war, they have most likely been pushing back in and reestablishing collection platforms on the ground, rather than from a distance,” the former official told AWN.
Those participating in the search for Tice will hunt for any records or materials “that will paint a picture of what has happened over the past decade plus since Austin was taken,” the former official stated.
“Those have been ongoing efforts from a variety of means since he’s been taken, but now you have people on the ground with direct access,” they told me. “Hopefully, before looting gets out of control, or before things are destroyed, they have access and the ability to start collecting and analyzing those materials.”
They would also seek for “any evidence of presence in locations where he was reported to have been held,” according to the former source. The former official stated that they will need to conduct interviews with those suspected of being engaged in Tice’s detention, including Syrian intelligence personnel, and that they will need to talk with the Syrians who are now in charge. This insider informed AWN that they feel the US should use this chance to engage in discussion with HTS head Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.
The State Department declined to clarify whether there had been any direct contact with Jolani, the leader of a US-designated terrorist group. There is “no legal barrier” to direct conversations, according to State Department spokesperson Miller on Tuesday.
“We have the authority to do that under US law,” he informed me. “That said, I’m not going to engage in particular exchanges. We have communicated to all key parties inside Syria our immediate and intermediate priorities for the transition process and the formation of a new government.
Miller and Kirby stated Tuesday that the inquiries have not yielded any fresh information about Tice. Nonetheless, the Tice family remains hopeful that the rapid changes in Syria will result in their long-awaited reunion.
“I do believe he will be found,” Austin’s mother, Debra Tice, told “NBC Nightly News” on Monday.
“In turmoil, there is opportunity. Austin’s father, Marc Tice, stated, “This is an opportunity, and it feels stronger than any we’ve seen or felt in a long time.”
