The head of Lebanon’s intelligence directorate said in an interview on Saturday that he recently visited Damascus amid ongoing attempts to secure the release of Austin Tice, an American journalist believed to be held captive by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim told Lebanon’s Al-Jadid news in a television interview that the two-day visit came after he visited Washington last month. During that trip, Ibrahim met with Tice’s mother as well as national security advisor Robert O’Brien.