Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Top secret intelligence files uncovered by the BBC confirm for the first time that missing American journalist Austin Tice was imprisoned by the regime of the now-deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Former Syrian officials have also confirmed Mr Tice’s detention to the BBC. The US government has previously stated that it believed he had been held by the Syrian government, but the Assad regime continuously denied this …. Austin Tice vanished near the Syrian capital of Damascus in August 2012, just days after his 31st birthday. He had been working as a freelance journalist. Around seven weeks later, a video posted online showed him blindfolded and with his hands bound being forced to recite an Islamic declaration of faith by a group of armed men.” (06/02/25)