NEW
YORK (Reuters) - The State Department has
said it believes American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in
August, is alive and being held by the Syrian government.
A shaky,
47-second video surfaced on Monday that appeared to show Tice, blindfolded and
being led by a group of masked men up a rocky pathway. At one point he is
pushed to his knees and cries out, "Oh
Jesus, oh Jesus."
U.S. State
Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told
reporters on Monday the department had seen the video but could not confirm it
was Tice, or whether the scene was authentic or had been staged.
"There's
a lot of reason for the Syrian government to duck responsibility, but we
continue to believe that, to the best of our knowledge, we think he is in
Syrian government custody," Nuland said.
Tice, 31, is
a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Washington Post and other
U.S. newspapers. According to Tice's Twitter profile, he is also a former U.S.
Marine Corps infantry officer.
In a
statement published by the McClatchy Company newspapers, Tice's parents, Marc
and Debra Tice said:
"Knowing Austin is alive and well is comforting to our family."
"Though
it is difficult to see our son in such a setting and situation as that depicted
in the video, it is reassuring that he appears to be unharmed."
(Reporting
by Edith Honan and Jackie Frank)
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