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Major General Abbas Ibrahim has become the main mediator in the hostage case in the United States, Austin Tice. In a report, the Emirati newspaper “The National” noted that Ibrahim had expressed his hope to improve intelligence sharing with the United States and to work for the release of more American hostages held in Iran and Syria. The newspaper noted that Ibrahim met with national security adviser Robert O’Brien, CIA director Gina Haspel and undersecretary of state David Hale, and noted his role in the release of American Sam Godin from Syria and the Lebanese incumbent. of the green card Nizar Zakka from Iran.
Who is Tice?
US President Donald Trump regards the release of 39-year-old Tice as his top priority. Last March, he sent a message to his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, urging him to release Tice. Tice, who has been detained since 2012, is one of the US citizens allegedly abducted by Damascus. Observers speak of constant negotiations, letters and calls from the US administration to Damascus and Moscow for the past eight years to release him, as intelligence information indicates that he is still alive and in a Syrian prison.
How was he kidnapped?
Tice, a Georgetown University student and former US Navy soldier, was kidnapped while practicing his journalistic work covering the Syrian crisis. He lost contact with the Thais on May 30, 2012 while on his way from rural Damascus to Lebanon, to travel from Beirut. Tice was 31 at the time. Weeks after his disappearance, Tice appeared blindfolded with two armed men.
Secret communications since 2015
Since 2015, media reports have spoken of secret contacts between the US government and Damascus for the release of Tice. In 2015, the French newspaper “Le Figaro” quoted a high-ranking European diplomat as saying that a US government envoy was able to see Tice that year. He is believed to be a Czech diplomat, as the Czech Republic has an embassy there, representing the interests of the United States in Damascus.
CBS News reported in November 2012 that US authorities believed Tice was with Syrian authorities, and this theory was reinforced by the tape that appeared on YouTube in October 2012, which was aimed at indicting al-Qaeda, and published by one of the affiliated pages. However, according to observers, extremist organizations were not spreading with the same intensity in the country at the time.
Tice appeared in the video, handcuffed and blindfolded, among the men, masked and dressed in Afghan clothing, singing the phrase “God is great.” A US official said in his comment on the video at the time: “It seems as if someone saw a lot of films made in Afghanistan and then tried to imitate them, but they did it in a very bad way.”
Observers show that what is striking is that Tice disappeared from sight for two years, and this is unusual in kidnappings by jihadist movements, strengthening the theory that Syrian intelligence had kidnapped him.
Reports say Tice was located in Mill Prison, which is a private underground Republican Guard prison, near one of the presidential palaces and overlooking Mezze Military Airport. Information about Tice was provided to US authorities by members of the military in prison and in some military hospitals, according to which he was transferred to the hospital on two occasions, one of which was to the Tishreen Military Hospital in 2016.
It appears that the US authorities at that time obtained classified information from the head of the Syrian National Security Office, Major General Ali Mamlouk, indicating that Tais is in Damascus, but that he is not officially detained, but was abducted by an officer close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad known as Major General Bassem al-Hassan. . Basem Al-Hassan is said to be a pseudonym of Major General Bassam Merhej, director of Assad’s security office, and he held the term of responsibility for managing the chemical weapons program, and is an officer close to the Iranians and Russians for Likewise, he also held the post of head of the special operations unit and appeared many times alongside Assad as a bodyguard.
The article expresses the opinion of its author and is not necessarily the policy of the site.
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