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The mother of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist and former US Marine who was abducted in Syria in 2012, has met with Syrian rebel leaders following the recent collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Some shit you should know before you read: In early December, Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell after an 11-day rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a coalition of Islamist factions that seized control of Damascus and other major cities. HTS, originally a spin-off of al-Qaeda in Syria known as Jabhat al-Nusra, has since rebranded itself as a nationalist and reformist movement under the leadership of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. Jolani, once a senior figure in al-Qaeda’s operations in the region, has sought to distance himself and HTS from their jihadist origins, adopting a more pragmatic and politically palatable approach to governance. He now portrays himself as a unifier and statesman. Despite these efforts, many in the international community remain wary of HTS’s past affiliations, though Jolani continues to leverage his narrative of transformation to gain regional and global legitimacy.
What’s going on now: Austin Tice’s mother, Debra Tice, recently met with Jolani as part of her ongoing efforts to secure her son’s release. During their meeting, Tice emphasized the urgency of locating her son and pleaded for cooperation from HTS to aid in his safe recovery. She expressed her belief that Austin is still alive and could be found within the liberated areas now under HTS control.
In response, Jolani and HTS representatives assured her of their commitment to aiding families searching for missing loved ones in Syria. The group acknowledged that, as they continue to empty former Assad-run prisons and gather information on detainees, any credible leads on Austin Tice would be shared with US authorities.
Some more on Tice’s abduction: Back in August 2012, Austin Tice disappeared while reporting in Syria during the height of the country’s civil war. He was last seen at a checkpoint west of Damascus in a contested area, where he was believed to have been abducted. Weeks after his disappearance, a video surfaced showing Tice blindfolded and held by armed men, though US intelligence later assessed that the footage was staged by the Syrian regime to make it appear that Islamist militants were responsible. Despite extensive efforts by successive US administrations and ongoing intelligence operations, Tice’s whereabouts remain unknown, with leads often running dry or proving unreliable.
