⁍ The mother of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist and former U.S. Marine officer who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of undermining efforts to free her son.
⁍ Debra Tice appeared to be trying to play Pompeo off against U.S. President Donald Trump, who has stressed his desire to bring home Tice and other U.S. citizens detained abroad.
⁍ ‘President Trump is committed to seeing Austin walk free, whereas Secretary Pompeo is willing to accept his continued detention,’ she said.
– US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “is undermining the president’s crucial outreach, refusing any form of direct diplomatic engagement with the Syrian government,” Austin Tice’s mother says. In a statement released ahead of the Nov. 3 US election, Debra Tice says Pompeo is “in essence, there is nothing he is willing to do to bring my son home,” Reuters reports. She says President Trump is “committed to seeing Austin walk free, whereas Secretary Pompeo is willing to accept his continued detention.” A Trump administration official confirmed last month that a White House official had visited Damascus this year to seek the release of Tice and another US citizen held in Syria.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-syria-journalist/missing-americans-mother-says-pompeo-undermines-his-release-idUSKBN27B2D9