World

Biden urges Syria to secure missing U.S. journalist’s return

2022.08.10 16:37

2/2
Biden urges Syria to secure missing U.S. journalist's return
FILE PHOTO: Marc and Debra Tice, parents of U.S. journalist Austin Tice, talk during a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

2/2

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Damascus to help repatriate a U.S. journalist who disappeared in Syria a decade ago, making a direct plea as pressure mounts on the White House from families of hostages and detainees.

Austin Tice, a freelance reporter and former U.S. Marine, was kidnapped in August 2012 aged 31 while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

His family believes he is alive and still being held in Syria. The identity of Tice’s captors is not known, and there has been no claim of responsibility for his abduction. Washington says the Syrian government has held him in the past, a charge Damascus denies.

Issuing a statement on the 10th anniversary of Tice’s captivity, Biden said his administration has “repeatedly asked the government of Syria to work with us so that we can bring Austin home.”

Biden added: “I am calling on Syria to end this and help us bring him home.”

Washington suspended its diplomatic presence in Syria in 2012 with the onset the country’s civil war. In 2020, during the administration of former president Donald Trump, a White House official visited Damascus for secret meetings with the Syrian government seeking the release of Tice and another American.

The plight of Tice and other Americans held abroad gained visibility after the February arrest in Russia of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was sentenced last week to nine years in prison after a Russian court found her guilty of drug charges. Biden called the sentence “unacceptable”.

The families of hostages and detainees have begun to collectively raise their voices to urge Biden to prioritize the issue and take steps such as arranging further prisoner swaps with foreign governments.

Biden signed an executive order last month aimed at deterring and punishing wrongful detention of Americans abroad by authorizing government agencies to impose sanctions and other measures.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 79,297.25 8.13%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,109.71 10.49%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.999025 0.04%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 2.00 9.77%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 567.99 8.04%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 128.73 8.53%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.00%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.185743 11.01%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.594075 11.08%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,105.83 10.64%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.219786 3.78%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 79,163.21 8.22%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,510.35 11.08%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 116.25 9.89%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 13.70 12.03%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 20.68 10.28%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 9.08 1.41%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.59 11.98%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 3.19 8.73%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.258174 11.14%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.03%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000013 10.16%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.183571 8.84%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 7.35 1.00%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.54 9.71%
hyperliquid
Hyperliquid (HYPE) $ 19.04 7.81%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,108.04 10.47%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 0.998053 0.16%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 275.43 8.29%
bitget-token
Bitget Token (BGB) $ 3.75 10.10%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,235.87 10.55%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 7.17 11.99%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 211.88 1.74%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 25.69 2.89%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 5.71 7.17%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 2.82 8.79%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999864 0.01%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000007 12.95%
susds
sUSDS (SUSDS) $ 1.05 0.33%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 6.15 7.58%
ondo-finance
Ondo (ONDO) $ 0.899684 10.27%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 182.55 11.98%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.02 5.26%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 43.42 4.50%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 309.13 16.12%
gatechain-token
Gate (GT) $ 19.81 8.51%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.702839 7.84%
tokenize-xchange
Tokenize Xchange (TKX) $ 29.15 4.08%
coinbase-wrapped-btc
Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CBBTC) $ 79,303.25 8.12%
official-trump
Official Trump (TRUMP) $ 11.31 14.80%