Biden meets with parents of missing reporter in Syria, Austin Tice

Marc (L) and Debra Tice, parents of US journalist Austin Tice who was kidnapped in Syria five years prior, hold respective dated portraits of him during a press conference in the Lebanese capital Beirut on July 20, 2017 [JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images]

US President Joe Biden told the parents of a reporter who disappeared in Syria almost a decade ago that his administration would work “relentlessly” until his return is secured, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Monday.

Biden met on Monday with the parents of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist and former marine, who disappeared while reporting in 2012.

“During their meeting, the President reiterated his commitment to continue to work through all available avenues to secure Austin’s long overdue return to his family,” Psaki said.

She said the administration would work “relentlessly until Austin and other Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained worldwide are safely at home with their loved ones.”

She added that Biden’s national security team, which had already held meetings and conversations with Marc and Debra Tice, would remain in regular contact with them.

READ: Austin Tice’s mother says White House is the ‘hurdle’ obstructing his release from Syria

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.