The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who was captured on a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, expressed hope Sunday that the unrest in Syria will lead to her son's freedom.
Debra Tice said the news that Missouri resident Travis Timmerman had been freed from a Syrian prison by rebels “felt like a rehearsal.” When images of Timmerman, mistakenly identified as Tice, began circulating on social media, children woke her up.
When asked if Timmerman's misidentification was a moment of false hope, Debra Theis instead characterized it as a moment of joy that should be shared. Timmerman said he traveled to Syria on a spiritual mission earlier this year and was arrested for illegal entry.
Americans taken out of the country by US forces after Assad's overthrow are released from Syrian prisons
Austin Tice, who worked as a freelance reporter for the Washington Post and McClatchy, was captured during a reporting trip to Syria in 2012. His mother (pictured) expressed hope on Sunday that the unrest in Syria would lead to her son's freedom. (Evelyn Hochstein)
“It felt like we were rehearsing it… just a little taste of what it would actually be like when Austin walks free,” she said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”
Tais has become the focus of a massive manhunt following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last week after a 13-year civil war. Rebels led by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have released thousands of people from a Damascus prison where President Assad was holding political opponents, civilians and foreigners.
A week after Assad's ouster, some U.S. officials are concerned that Tice may have been killed during a recent Israeli airstrike. Officials also said that if Taïs had been held in an underground cell, there may have been a lack of breathable air, as Assad's forces cut off electricity in many of Damascus's prisons before the president escaped. I am concerned that there is.
Debra Tice said hearing the news that Travis Timmerman had recently been released from prison from Syria gave her new hope that her son, Austin Tice, would be free. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Syria's freed political prisons reveal harsh realities of Bashar al-Assad's torture regime
When asked whether the U.S. government should search for Tice on the ground in Syria, Debra Tice took a cautious stance, saying that journalists and others searching for Tice on the ground, including the hostage rescue group Worldwide, He expressed his gratitude for the efforts of other civilians.
“The U.S. government has made a decision not to go to Damascus. So my feeling is that if they don't want to be there, they shouldn't be there. And the people who are there, they are in Damascus. It's the people. They're determined,” she said.
Tice, who worked as a freelance reporter for the Washington Post and McClatchy, was one of the first American journalists to enter Syria after the civil war broke out.
Debra Tice holds a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington on May 2, 2023. (Evelyn Hochstein)
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In August 2012, he was captured during fighting in Aleppo.
A few weeks later, a YouTube video was released showing Theis blindfolded and with his hands tied behind his back. He was seen shouting “God is great” as he was taken up a hill by armed men in Afghani costume, apparently due to Islamic rebels, but this video shows him It only gained attention when it was posted on a related Facebook page. with Assad supporters.
On Friday, Reuters first reported that Tais, a former marine, was seen breaking out of his cell in 2013 and moving between houses on the streets of Damascus's upscale Mazzeh district.
