Syria
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, on October 21, 2020. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/pool/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Damascus did not share any information regarding the whereabouts or fate of American freelance journalist Austin Tice to a United States government official who recently made a rare visit to the Syrian capital, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Wednesday.
“Our ask is that the Syrian’s release Mr. Tice, tell us what they know. They have chosen not to do that so far,” said Pompeo.
Austin Tice was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus on August 14, 2012 and appeared blindfolded in the custody of an unknown group a month later. There has been no news of him since.
Kash Patel, a White House official, visited Damascus in August to ask for freedom for Tice and Syrian-American therapist Majd Kamalmaz who went missing in 2017 after he was stopped at a regime checkpoint, US media reported this week.
Syrian officials told CBS News that the government of President Bashar al-Assad would not discuss American hostages until US troops left Syrian soil. The US has a military presence in northeast Syria where it coordinates the war against the Islamic State (ISIS) with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Washington withdrew roughly half its 1,000 troops in October last year, and Trump said the focus of the mission is now protecting oil fields. But this September, the US deployed some 100 additional soldiers and six Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Syria after skirmishes with Russian forces.
Asked if the US was ready to withdraw from Syria as the price for securing the return of Tice, Pompeo said the US does not pay for the return of hostages.
“We continue to work for the return, not only of Austin, but of every American that’s held. We’re not going to change American policy to do that. As the president said clearly, we don’t pay for the return of hostages. We work to make the case that they need to get these people returned,” he said.
The US government has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the safe location and return of Tice.
The Tice and Kamalmaz families believe the two are still alive.
“Our ask is that the Syrian’s release Mr. Tice, tell us what they know. They have chosen not to do that so far,” said Pompeo.
Austin Tice was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus on August 14, 2012 and appeared blindfolded in the custody of an unknown group a month later. There has been no news of him since.
Kash Patel, a White House official, visited Damascus in August to ask for freedom for Tice and Syrian-American therapist Majd Kamalmaz who went missing in 2017 after he was stopped at a regime checkpoint, US media reported this week.
Syrian officials told CBS News that the government of President Bashar al-Assad would not discuss American hostages until US troops left Syrian soil. The US has a military presence in northeast Syria where it coordinates the war against the Islamic State (ISIS) with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Washington withdrew roughly half its 1,000 troops in October last year, and Trump said the focus of the mission is now protecting oil fields. But this September, the US deployed some 100 additional soldiers and six Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Syria after skirmishes with Russian forces.
Asked if the US was ready to withdraw from Syria as the price for securing the return of Tice, Pompeo said the US does not pay for the return of hostages.
“We continue to work for the return, not only of Austin, but of every American that’s held. We’re not going to change American policy to do that. As the president said clearly, we don’t pay for the return of hostages. We work to make the case that they need to get these people returned,” he said.
The US government has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the safe location and return of Tice.
The Tice and Kamalmaz families believe the two are still alive.
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