A hostage rescue operator in Syria supplied a glimmer of vacation hope within the case of a lacking U.S. journalist, telling Fox Information Digital he believes Austin Tice is alive and is hopeful that he shall be discovered quickly.
Whereas refusing to disclose delicate particulars, Gray Bull Rescue’s Bryan Stern asserted that he has intelligence that leads him to consider the 43-year-old Marine veteran and reporter who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 is alive, or at the least was up till just lately.
“I might say 100%, I might bet that he is alive, or at the least was as of two weeks in the past,” Stern informed Fox Information Digital from his resort room in Syria. “I might wager that he is being cared for and tended to,” he went on.
“I additional submit that, he is findable,” he went on. “We don’t get well lifeless our bodies. To not say that we wouldn’t, however we’re a nonprofit, we wouldn’t be placing assets towards that, freezing to dying, lacking my fourth Christmas with my household, if I didn’t consider he was alive and findable.”
TRUMP COULD FACE RENEWED ISIS THREAT IN SYRIA AS TURKEY GOES AFTER US ALLY
Stern has been looking out by prisons on the lookout for U.S. journalist Austin Tice. (Bryan Stern/Gray Bull Rescue )
Stern has led high-level rescue missions in a few of the most harmful corners of the world, together with Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, Israel, Haiti, Lebanon and the U.S. throughout pure disasters.
“We now have executed 12 jailbreaks from Russia,” mentioned Stern. “That’s 12 greater than the CIA.”
The ousting of Bashar al-Assad and subsequent takeover of Syria by HTS has supplied the Biden administration and Tice’s household a renewed sense of hope that the journalist may very well be discovered.
“He might have died of a abdomen bug three years in the past. And we simply do not know. I do not assume that that is the case,” mentioned Stern. “I’ve no purpose to consider that that is the case. There’s not a single piece of knowledge, circumstantial or in any other case, that point out something close to that. Actually, every thing I’ve is counter to that.”
The Syrian authorities for greater than a decade refused to barter the discharge of Tice, who was kidnapped whereas reporting on the rebellion towards the Assad regime throughout the early levels of the Syrian civil battle, which in the end ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted and fled to Moscow.
TRUMP SAYS TURKEY ‘DID AN UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER’ IN SYRIA AS US-BROKERED CEASE-FIRE APPEARS TO FAIL
Stern Stern has led high-level rescue missions in a few of the most harmful corners of the world. (Bryan Stern/Gray Bull Rescue )
The temper in Syria is “cautiously completely happy” after a long time of brutal oppression, in response to Stern, and whereas the brand new governing pressure HTS is “not standing in the best way” of discovering Tice, they’re extra preoccupied with studying tips on how to govern than aiding within the search efforts.
The almost definitely state of affairs, in response to Stern, is that Tice is being detained in a house in a neighborhood, sorted by Assad-friendly Alawites, the identical department of Islam as the previous chief. Lots of the nation’s prisons have now been searched or emptied and he would not consider President Vladimir Putin would maintain Tice in Russia.
“The connection between Assad and Putin is considerably overblown. [Assad] has been there over two weeks they usually have not even seen one another,” mentioned Stern.
“The Russians are like we do not want this downside, that’s an effective way to p— off soon-to-be-President Trump, I imply who was obsessive about the Austin Tice case years in the past.”
Investigators consider Tice escaped years in the past however was present in simply such a neighborhood in Damascus and thrown again in detainment.
The State Division’s Rewards for Justice workplace is providing a $10 million reward for any info resulting in the discovering of Tice, however Stern mentioned he believes anybody with info is extra pushed by tribal loyalty than financial reward.
The Gray Bull staff has pored by jail information on the lookout for Tice. (Bryan Stern/Gray Bull Rescue )
“Assad is residing the nice life within the tower in Moscow. However make no mistake, he nonetheless has attain inside Syria,” mentioned Stern. “Half of the brand new authorities have been Assad guys final week.”
“That tribal nexus plus the concern of Bashar Assad with the ability to attain out and contact individuals nonetheless in Syria, why would they arrive ahead?”
One other group working with Gray Bull asserted this week that they consider Tice is alive.
“We now have knowledge that Austin is alive until January 2024, however the president of the U.S. mentioned in August that he’s alive, and we’re certain that he’s alive at the moment,” Nizar Zakka, president of Hostage Support Worldwide, mentioned Tuesday, in response to a number of reviews.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“We are attempting to be as clear as potential and to share as a lot info as potential.”
Zakka supplied little proof to again up its statements made out of a press convention in Damascus, although he reportedly used an image to exhibit the areas the place Tice was held from November 2017 to February 2024.
U.S. Hostage Support Worldwide has engaged with Tice’s household and U.S. authorities within the hunt for Tice, and the Biden administration has echoed a message of hope that Tice is alive, regardless of months of little phrase about his whereabouts.
Source link