"Debra Tice, whose son Austin was abducted near Damascus in 2012, said the rebel group that toppled the Assad regime promised support in helping to find him."
"The mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist abducted in Syria, said on Monday that she had met with Syria’s new leader in Damascus and expressed hope that “a page will be turned” in the more than decade-long search for her son.
Debra Tice gave a news conference in Damascus on Monday after the meeting with Ahmed al-Shara, whose rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the sudden offensive last month that toppled President Bashar al-Assad, ending more than 50 years of Assad family rule in Syria. Syria’s state news agency also reported on the meeting, posting pictures of her in conversation with Mr. al-Shara at the presidential palace.
Although she had no new information on her son’s whereabouts, Ms. Tice, who arrived in Damascus on Saturday, said she felt optimistic that Syria’s new rebel leaders would help her and Syrian families searching for loved ones still missing after being held in the old regime’s notorious prisons."
Erika Solomon reports for the New York Times January 20, 2025.
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