Syria has denied kidnapping or maintaining captive US journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared 10 years in the past close to Damascus.
The Syrian authorities has denied holding any American nationals captive, together with journalist Austin Tice who was kidnapped 10 years in the past close to the capital Damascus.
Syria’s international ministry issued a press release on Wednesday in response to United States President Joe Biden’s claims final week that he knew “with certainty” that Tice “has been held by the Syrian regime”, and referred to as on Damascus to assist carry him residence.
The international ministry denied Biden’s accusation, describing it as “baseless allegations”.
“The Syrian Arab Republic denies that it has kidnapped or forcibly disappeared any American citizen who entered its territory or resided in areas underneath its authority,” the assertion stated.
The ministry additionally stated that the US had violated consular and diplomatic relations by encouraging US residents to enter Syria with out permission, and that Damascus would solely settle for “official dialogue or communication with the American administration if the talks are public and premised on a respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”.
Tice, a former Marine, was a contract photojournalist working for Agence France-Presse, McClatchy Information, The Washington Submit, CBS and different information organisations when he disappeared after being detained at a checkpoint close to Damascus on August 14, 2012.
He was aged 31 on the time he went lacking. He later appeared blindfolded within the custody of an unidentified group of armed males in a video launched a month later however there was little information of him since.
Biden’s assertion on his whereabouts got here on the tenth anniversary of Tice’s disappearance.
“There isn't a larger precedence in my administration than the restoration and return of People held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas,” Biden stated.
The earlier US administration underneath former US President Donald Trump despatched a White Home official on a uncommon mission to Damascus in 2020, aiming to hunt Tice’s freedom. That mission yielded no seen outcomes.
In 2018, US authorities introduced a $1m reward for data that will result in the journalist’s restoration.
Syria denies secret talks
Washington suspended its diplomatic presence in Syria in 2012 on the onset of the nation’s civil battle.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated Biden’s particular envoy for hostage affairs, Roger Carstens, would “proceed to interact with the Syrian authorities” in coordination with the White Home.
State Division Spokesman Ned Value advised reporters on Tuesday that the US authorities has pushed Syria to return each American citizen.
On Tice’s case particularly, he stated, the Biden administration has “engaged extensively – and that features instantly – with Syrian officers and thru third events”.
“Syria has by no means acknowledged holding him,” Value stated of the journalist, including that “we're not going to be deterred in our efforts. We're going to pursue each avenue for securing Austin’s secure return”.
The Syrian international ministry denied in its assertion having any secret contacts with US officers on the lacking People, including that “any official dialogue with the American authorities will solely be public based mostly on the respect of Syria’s sovereignty”.
Tice is one among two People who went lacking in Syria. The opposite is Majd Kamalmaz, a psychologist from Virginia, who vanished in Syria in 2017.
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