Family of American missing in Syria feels 'left behind' by White House
The family of Majd Kamalmaz, a US citizen who disappeared in Syria in 2017, question whether President Joe Biden is prioritizing his case.
President Joe Biden won praise for his meeting Monday with the parents of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist who disappeared while covering the Syrian civil war nearly a decade ago. But the family of a lesser-known American abducted in Syria say they are struggling to get Biden’s attention.
“It hurts,” said Maryam Kamalmaz, whose father Majd Kamalmaz was last seen at a government checkpoint near the Syrian capital Damascus in February 2017.
Kamalmaz, a dual US-Syrian citizen, and Tice are among the roughly half dozen Americans thought to have been taken by the Syrian government or affiliated forces during the conflict.
The regime of President Bashar al-Assad has never publicly acknowledged holding them, and a lack of diplomatic relations between Washington and Damascus has complicated efforts to secure their release.
