A U.S. non-profit organization is actively searching for missing Americans in Syria following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), leads a team of seven currently on the ground in Damascus. Their primary focus is locating American journalist Austin Tice and Syrian American psychotherapist Dr. Majd Kamalmaz, both of whom disappeared under the Assad regime.
Tice, a freelance journalist, was abducted in 2012 while reporting in a Damascus suburb. A video released months later showed him blindfolded and being led away. Kamalmaz, a humanitarian worker who aided survivors of Hurricane Katrina and refugees from various conflicts, vanished after being detained at a checkpoint in 2017. U.S. officials believe he perished within a couple of years of his detainment in a Syrian prison, though the precise circumstances remain unclear.
Moustafa and his team are pursuing various leads and locations, now unrestricted in their movements with the regime's downfall. They aim to uncover any information related to the missing Americans, particularly Tice. The Syrian government consistently denied holding Tice or other Americans. Former U.S. special envoy for Syria, Joel Rayburn, suggests the regime likely used detainees as bargaining chips.
The State Department offers a substantial reward for information about Tice's whereabouts and has stressed the importance of his return to the leading Syrian rebel group. A recent report indicates a Syrian journalist, formerly imprisoned by the regime, may have been held with Tice as recently as 2022. Moustafa intends to investigate this lead. He emphasizes the collective responsibility of Syrians to bring Tice home to his family.
