FILE PHOTO: A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, U.S., May 2, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. officials were pressing on Monday for information about Austin Tice and to secure the release of the American journalist captured in Syria 12 years ago.
Washington's hostage-affairs envoy Roger Carstens was in Beirut as part of intensive efforts to locate Tice, according to the State Department, while White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said other officials were seeking information from people in Syria.
"This is a top priority for us - to find Austin Tice, to locate the prison where he may be held, get him out, get him home safely to his family," Sullivan told ABC's "Good Morning America."
"We are talking through the Turks and others to people on the ground in Syria to say, 'Help us with this. Help us get Austin Tice home.'"
Tice, a former U.S. Marine and a freelance journalist, was 31 when he was abducted in August 2012 while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted by Syrian rebels who seized the capital Damascus on Sunday. Syria had denied he was being held.
Assad fled to Russia after a 13-year civil war and more than five decades of his family's autocratic rule.
The United States received intelligence over the summer from a Lebanese source who said they saw Tice alive and believed the group holding him was connected to Hezbollah, according to a former U.S. official familiar with the intelligence.
The official said the U.S. often receives varying reports regarding Tice's whereabouts and it has been difficult to determine their accuracy or credibility.
Years of secret talks with the Assad government were fruitless, with Syria saying they could only offer proof of Tice's life if the U.S. met demands such as withdrawing troops from the country, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Lebanon helped broker those talks.
LAST INTERACTION
The last Biden administration interaction with Syria on Tice was a little over a month before Aleppo fell to the rebels late last month, the person said.
"There are intensive efforts under way by the United States to find Austin Tice and bring him home to his family," said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. "We are pressing all parties in the region to support this effort."
President Joe Biden said on Sunday the U.S. government believes Tice is alive. He has tasked his team with doing whatever it takes to bring Tice home, according to people familiar with the directive.
"We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence to that yet. And Assad should be held accountable," Biden said. "We have to identify where (Tice) is."
There is no U.S. government intelligence that suggests Tice is dead, according to the person familiar with the matter. Assad is believed to have held him at one point, the person said.
The FBI is offering a $1-million reward for information leading to Tice’s safe return.
Tice's parents said on Monday they were watching families reunite in Syria and expect that will be possible for them as well.
"Austin Tice is alive, in Syria, and it's time for him to come home. We are eagerly anticipating seeing Austin walk free and we are asking anyone who can do so to please assist Austin so he can safely return home to our family," Marc and Debra Tice said in a statement.
Sullivan met with Debra Tice on Friday at the White House after she told journalists at the National Press Club that she believed her son was alive.
(Reporting by Erin Banco and Simon Lewis; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Trevor Hunnicutt, Humeyra Pamuk, Kanishka Singh and Patricia Zengerle; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons, Timothy Heritage and Rod Nickel)
