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A new BBC investigation published on September 17 has revealed yet another update in the case.
Tice was betrayed by his driver, an alleged informant for the Assad regime and kidnapped, according to the report. That was the last time anyone heard from him, according to The Guardian. In 2022, then-President Joe Biden said “with certainty” that the U.S. knew that Syrian authorities had Tice in their possession.
Following his kidnapping, a video surfaced a month later of a blindfolded Tice being held by armed men saying, “Oh Jesus.
As the regime fell 12 years later, tens of thousands of people emerged from the administration’s prisons, yet Tice was not one of them. Following the regime’s collapse in 2024, the BBC uncovered confidential Syrian intelligence files on Tice, which indicated he was detained by now-former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government. When it was time for Tice to leave Syria after he celebrated his 31st birthday on August 11, 2012, he was planning to take a break in Lebanon. In December 2024, Debra Tice, Austin’s mother, spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and claimed her son is alive based on a then-new report.
NDF surveillance on Tice continued after Assad’s alleged request, the BBC reported, until the driver reported to the militia that Tice’s actions appeared suspicious, said Abu Ali.
Abu Ali said that Tice’s driver, whom sources allege passed information to the regime, told an NDF official that Tice had been going through rebel areas and reporting on the opposition. The intelligence about Tice went all the way up to Assad himself, whom Ali says told the group to abduct the journalist. However, he was driven to a state facility where an NDF official had an office on the outskirts of Damascus, according to sources. “We have a significant source that has already been vetted all over our government; Austin Tice is alive, Austin Tice is treated well,” Debra said at the press conference. Debra previously expressed optimism that President Donald Trump would bring her son home after she said Trump previously “had an obsession” with helping Austin during his first term.
The British outlet added that it spoke with Abu Ali, a former member of the National Defence Forces (NDF), a militia loyal to Assad. At the time, the Assad government was cracking down on journalists reporting on its human rights abuses. “And there is no doubt about that. As of now, the US government maintains an active investigation into Tice and offers a multi-million-dollar reward for information that leads to his safe return.
The Assad regime previously denied all allegations of kidnapping the American journalist.
