(Syria Files- Exclusive)- The Syria Files has learnt from identical sources that the foreign intelligence agencies are constantly investigating and scouting the fate of Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria in 2012 and hasn’t been heard from since, noting that President Bashar al-Assad has received many letters from European and regional countries demanding him to uncover the journalist’s destiny.
Sources have also revealed that the Iranian and Russian intelligence, separately, are pressing on the Syrian intelligence to hand Tice to them. But the Syrian intelligence has denied that Tice is being held in its security chambers, seeking to open direct security channels with the U.S. government.
Syria Files analysts say the journalist’s case is a winning card for Assad, who is eager to revive relations with the White House even through the hostage-diplomacy and ahead of the presidential elections.
According to the source, the Syrian security services have been in a state of alert for three months due to the Austin case, as they received many security mediation from other countries in order to verify the fate of Austin, but they did not respond to all the messages and did not respond to the mediations.
The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed in August that President Trump had sent a letter to Assad last March, with the aim of negotiating the release of the kidnapped journalist.
Pompeo said that the U.S. government has repeatedly tried to communicate with Syrian officials to release Tice, while the former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sought in 2014 repeatedly to resolve the case, but the Assad government refused to cooperate.
Robert Satloff, the Executive Director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Robert O’Brien, who is the former chief U.S. negotiator on hostage affairs, will discuss with Maj. Gen Abbas the fate of Americans detained in Syria.
Over the last eight years, Damascus has denied any information confirming that Tice is still alive or if he has been held by the Syrian security.
Satloff expressed his concern about the price that the White House could pay to secure the release of the hostages, saying it would be the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the al-Tanf base on the Iraqi-Syrian border, what would constitute a victory for Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian regime.
