Syrian authorities released an American freelance photographer who had been held captive in Syria since 2012, USA officials said.
Advertisement
The photographer’s identity has not been officially released, but the Washington Post reported that his name is Kevin Patrick Dawes, a 33-year-old man from San Diego, California.
The newspaper said Dawes’ release was seen as a positive sign for American reporter Austin Tice, who also went missing in Syria in 2012.
“We are appreciative of efforts on the part of the Russian government that it undertook on behalf of this USA citizen in Syria”, Toner told a news briefing.
He said Czech officials who represent American diplomatic interests in Syria had helped United States officials gain access to the citizen and seek his release.
The State Department said Friday that a USA citizen held in Syria has been released by the Syrian authorities.
“I’m not aware that there was any tit-for-tat exchange”, he added.
An FBI missing persons report calling for information about Dawes’s fate was taken offline Friday, suggesting that the USA government can now account for his whereabouts.
Advertisement
Tice, of Houston, Texas, disappeared in August 2012 while covering Syria’s civil war. He appeared blindfolded in a video a month after his abduction but has not been heard from since.
