Key Points
- President Joe Biden says Washington is certain that the Syrian government is holding American journalist Austin Tice.
- He went missing in the war-torn country a decade ago.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Damascus to help repatriate a US journalist who disappeared in Syria a decade ago, making a direct plea as pressure mounts on the White House from families of hostages and detainees.
Austin Tice, a former US Marine, was kidnapped in August 2012 aged 31 while reporting freelance in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
His family believes he is alive and still being held in Syria.
The identity of Mr Tice's captors is not known, and there has been no claim of responsibility for his abduction.
Issuing a statement on the 10th anniversary of Mr Tice's captivity, Mr Biden said his administration has "repeatedly asked the government of Syria to work with us so that we can bring Austin home."
Mr Biden, who said Washington knows "with certainty" that Mr Tice has at times been held by Syria's government, added: "I am calling on Syria to end this and help us bring him home."
Damascus denies having ever held Mr Tice.
The families of hostages and detainees have begun to collectively raise their voices to urge Mr Biden to prioritise the issue and take steps such as arranging further prisoner swaps with foreign governments.
Mr Biden signed an executive order last month aimed at deterring and punishing wrongful detention of Americans abroad by authorising government agencies to impose sanctions and other measures.
