Vladimir Putin promised to question ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on the location of missing American journalist Austin Tice — just one day after Tice’s mother sent a letter to the Russian president begging for his help.
Putin, who granted asylum to Assad and his family in Moscow after Islamist rebels overthrew his regime earlier this month, said he has not yet met with the now-exiled leader but plans to press him on the whereabouts of Tice when they do speak, according to reports.
The 43-year-old freelance writer from Texas, who is a Marine veteran, vanished in August 2012 near Damascus while reporting on the Syrian civil war — and hasn’t been heard from since.
“Twelve years ago, a man disappeared in Syria, 12 years ago! We understand what the situation was there 12 years ago, there was military action, and on both sides,” Putin told NBC in response to a question during his annual end-of-year news conference Thursday, CNN reported.
“Does President Assad himself know what happened to this American citizen, a journalist who was doing his journalistic duty in a combat zone? Nevertheless, I promise that I will ask this question to those people who control the situation on the ground in Syria today.”
The Syrian government has denied that it is holding Tice in captivity, but the fall of the al-Assad regime to Islamist rebels who are freeing thousands of prisoners has given both the US government and Tice’s family renewed hope that he’s alive.
Debra Tice implored the Kremlin leader on Wednesday to use his “profound connections with the Syrian government” to help find her son and reunite their family.
“The current situation in Syria compels us to ask for your help in finding Austin and safely reuniting our family,” Tice’s mother wrote in a letter to Putin, NBC reported.
“We would, of course, be willing to travel to Moscow or any place on Earth to put our arms around our precious Austin and bring him safely home.”
A video released weeks after Tice went missing showed him blindfolded and held by armed men and saying, “Oh, Jesus.” No one in the family has seen or heard from him since.
The United States has no new evidence that Tice is alive, but continues to operate under that assumption, with government officials making it a top priority to locate Tice and bring him home.
President Biden has also shown optimism, saying the government believes Tice is still alive.
“We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence to that yet,” he previously said.
“And Assad should be held accountable … We have to identify where he is.”
The Tices are also hoping that President-elect Donald Trump will take up the cause when he returns to the White House next month. Trump expressed interest in Tice’s disappearance during his first term in the Oval Office.
