White House calls for release of US journalist Austin Tice held in Syria –after high-profile Russian prisoner swap

President Joe Biden and the State Department are again calling for the release of American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012.

The call comes on the heels of the largest US-Russian prisoner swap in history, which saw the return of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine Paul Whelan.

Tice was working as a freelance reporter in Syria when he was kidnapped in Damascus, according to the FBI. The agency has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the “safe location, recovery, and return” of the journalist.

«For more than a quarter of his life, Austin has been separated from his family and kept in unknown conditions,» the State Department said in a statement. «We know the Syrian government has held Austin, and we have repeatedly offered to find a way to bring him home.»

On Wednesday, Biden issued a statement calling for Tice's return to the US.

“This week marks 12 long, terrible years since American Austin Tice was abducted in Syria,” he said. “We have repeatedly pressed the government of Syria to work with us so that we can, at last, bring Austin home. Today, I once again call for his immediate release.”

The US cut ties with Syria in 2011 in response to the civil war in the Middle Eastern nation.

“We stand in solidarity with Austin, his family, and all Americans wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad," Biden said. «I will continue to do everything possible to advocate for and pursue his release and support his loved ones until he is safely returned home.”

The Syrian government has denied holding any Americans, including Tice, but the State Department has maintained that the reporter is still being held in the country.

»This has gone on for far too long. We call