The mother American journalist missing in Syria reveals details of her visit to Damascus in 2014
Debra Tice, the mother of the American journalist missing in Syria, Austin Tice, revealed the details of her trip to Syria in 2014, referring to a letter that included Syria’s conditions for any dialogue with the US administration.
In an interview with The Times, Debra Tice said she went to Syria alone, took a taxi from Beirut to Damascus, and stayed in a place recommended by the driver.
She added that during that visit she received a message that “we won’t meet with the mother, and we want an official with a suitable title for any dialogue”.
Debra Tice said that the letter conveyed to her said that Damascus’ condition for opening any channel of dialogue with the United States passes through three conditions: that the United States begin a political rapprochement with Damascus, that sanctions imposed on it be eased, and that US forces stationed in northeastern Syria be withdrawn.
“Syria has made it very clear what it wants to discuss,” she said, adding that Syria doesn’t have a hostage project like Russia, Venezuela and Iran, and has already released other American hostages after negotiations”.
Regarding the US administration’s handling of her son’s case, Debra Tice said that she met with President Joe Biden in 2022, who instructed national security personnel to contact the Syrian side and find out what he wants in exchange for the release of Austin Tice, but she isn’t convinced today that any contact was made at all.
She said that the last intelligence she received from a source in the region in early 2023, led her to believe that Austin is still alive, without giving any further details, but said that Austin has been in the same place for a long time.
“I don’t know what this means, but I think it’s treated well… That’s a little comforting,” she said.
Austin, 39, is an American freelance journalist who collaborated with many newspapers and news agencies such as the Washington Post, CNN, McClatchy News, and AFP, and disappeared while on his way from rural Damascus to Lebanon in August 2012 after entering Syria illegally.
Before his disappearance, Austin was covering the battles of armed terrorist militias against the Syrian army, where he spoke in his last tweet on his Twitter account about the participation of fighters from the Free Syrian Army in celebrating his birthday.
It was preceded by tweets in which he talked about the battles in the town of Jdaydet Artooz in Damascus countryside, which he described as the most violent after the battles of Rastan, which he said were open war.
Two weeks after his abduction, Austin appeared in a video handcuffed and blindfolded among masked men dressed in Afghan uniforms chanting “Allahu Akbar”.
While Washington accuses Damascus of holding him or knowing his fate, the Syrian Foreign Ministry maintains that it has no information about Austin.
