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Assad operative’s claim that Austin Tice is dead is at center of new CNN report

Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, who is missing in Syria, hold up photos of him during a press conference, at the Press Club, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 20, 2017. (Bilal Hussein/AP)
Bilal Hussein/AP
Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, who is missing in Syria, hold up photos of him during a press conference, at the Press Club, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 20, 2017. (Bilal Hussein/AP)

A new 20-minute CNN investigation by chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward centers on Austin Tice, who was captured and detained in 2012 by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Tice is the longest-held American journalist abroad. The report charts his path from journalist covering Syria’s civil war to his abduction and finally to what might have happened to him.

Ward’s reporting includes uncovering the last-known videos of Tice before his disappearance, as well as in-person interviews with a general who claims to have interrogated Tice and the former Bashar al-Assad regime operative who says al-Assad gave him the order to have Tice executed.

Ward joins host Robin Young to talk about her reporting and why her quest became personal.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2025 WBUR

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