Iraqi PMF Chief Delivers Message to Assad From Kadhimi

Assad met Thursday with head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Faleh Al-Fayyad, delivering a message from Iraqi PM (SANA)
Assad met Thursday with head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Faleh Al-Fayyad, delivering a message from Iraqi PM (SANA)
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Iraqi PMF Chief Delivers Message to Assad From Kadhimi

Assad met Thursday with head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Faleh Al-Fayyad, delivering a message from Iraqi PM (SANA)
Assad met Thursday with head of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Faleh Al-Fayyad, delivering a message from Iraqi PM (SANA)

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday received a message from Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, conveyed by head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Faleh Al-Fayyad.

The Syrian official news agency SANA said that the message was related to bilateral relations, issues of mutual concern, and developments on the political and security levels, particularly the war against terrorism, and the existing cooperation between the two countries to confront it and clear its remnants from the border region.

During the meeting, the two sides also exchanged viewpoints on the situation in the region, the challenges it faces, and the importance of maintaining Syrian-Iraqi coordination and consultation in various fields, SANA said.

The visit came one day after Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein discussed in a phone call with his Belgian counterpart Sophie Wilms the importance of strengthening work and uniting international efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria, due to its direct impact on security and regional stability, including Iraq's.

The Iraqi Minister called for addressing the humanitarian situation of families in Al-Hol camp in Syria and preventing ISIS from penetrating camps of displaced people, spreading its terrorist ideology, and reorganizing its ranks.

A 610-kilometer (380-mile) border separates Syria and Iraq.

Baghdad suffers from this long cross-border frontier, which helps ISIS remnants to infiltrate Iraqi territories and serves as a corridor for all their military and commercial transportation.



US Journalist Missing in Syria Since 2012 Is Believed to Be Alive, Says Aid Group

A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Journalist Missing in Syria Since 2012 Is Believed to Be Alive, Says Aid Group

A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)
A banner for journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, hangs outside the National Press Club building in Washington, US, May 2, 2023. (Reuters)

American journalist Austin Tice is believed to be still alive, according to the head of an international aid group.

Nizar Zakka, who runs the Hostage Aid Worldwide organization, said there has never been any proof that Tice, who has been missing since 2012, is dead.

He told reporters in Damascus on Tuesday that Tice was alive in January and being held by the authorities of ousted Bashar al-Assad. He added that US President Joe Biden said in August that Tice was alive.

Zakka said Tice was transferred between security agencies over the past 12 years, including in an area where Iranian-backed fighters were operating.

Asked if it was possible Tice had been taken out of the country, Zakka said Assad most likely kept him in Syria as a potential bargaining chip.

Biden said Dec. 8 that his administration believed Tice was alive and was committed to bringing him home, though he also acknowledged that “we have no direct evidence” of his status.