For more than a decade, the disappearance of American journalist Austin Tice in Syria was widely believed to be a case of bad luck—a reporter who happened upon the wrong checkpoint at the wrong time. A new BBC investigation now says otherwise, revealing that Tice’s 2012 abduction was the result of a deliberate, weeks-long plot allegedly greenlit by then-President Bashar al-Assad himself.
Tice, a former US Marine Corps captain and Georgetown University law student, had been reporting from rebel-held areas of Syria for outlets including the Washington Post, covering territory most journalists avoided. According to a former member of the pro-Assad militia known as the National Defence Forces, Tice’s own driver—a man he trusted—had been secretly feeding information about his movements to regime loyalists for some time.
That intelligence, the source says, traveled up the chain of command to a senior aide to Assad, who then reportedly phoned the president directly. Assad’s alleged response: “Bring him to us.” The source claims he was later told the operation had received presidential approval, though the driver first asked to keep monitoring Tice before the abduction took place.
Despite the fall of the Assad government and the release of tens of thousands of prisoners, Tice has never been found. Searches based on intelligence tips turned up no trace of him, and while one former commander claims he was executed, no remains have surfaced and the claim remains disputed. Secret intelligence files have, however, confirmed the regime held him.
You can read the BBC’s full investigation for more details on this case.
Source: Assad regime planned US journalist's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds (feeds.bbci.co.uk). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: U.S. Navy photo by Chief Journalist Robert Benson..