American Organization Launches Search for Kidnapped Citizens in Syria following Regime Change: Vows to Explore Every Lead

A U.S. nonprofit headquartered in Washington, D.C., is on the ground in Syria looking for kidnapped Americans in the aftermath of the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), told Fox News Digital in an interview from Damascus that he and six members of his team arrived in the capital Wednesday to look for Americans kidnapped or held captive by the ousted Assad regime, most notably, American freelance journalist Austin Tice and Syrian American psychotherapist Dr. Majd Kamalmaz.

“God willing, he’s alive. God willing, we can find him and bring him home,” Moustafa said of Tice. “Same for Majd, same for the other Americans whose names are not public.”

U.S. journalist Austin Tice, left, and Syrian American psychotherapist Dr. Majd Kamalmaz. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images | The Kamalmaz Family | Fox News Digital)

Tice, who traveled to Syria as the country’s civil war was erupting, was kidnapped in 2012 while reporting in Daraya, a Damascus suburb. He was seen on a video released months after his capture wearing a black blindfold and being led away by a group of men shouting “Allahu Akbar.” 

Tice has not been seen or heard from since. The Syrian government has always denied holding Tice or other Americans. 

Kamalmaz, a U.S. citizen who helped survivors of Hurricane Katrina and refugees from war-torn Syria and Kosovo recover from trauma and PTSD, was detained at a government checkpoint in Damascus while visiting a family member in February 2017. 

Majd Kamalmaz with his grandchildren. (Kamalmaz Family)

U.S. officials presented the Kamalmaz family with classified information earlier this year, saying they believe the humanitarian died in Syria’s notorious prison system. 

He likely died within a year or two of his detainment, his daughter Maryam told Fox News Digital in June, citing U.S. officials. The officials did not say how or where Dr. Kamalmaz died.

“We will not leave a stone unturned while I’m here in Damascus, and I hope to find them,” said Moustafa. 

Marc Tice, left, and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, a journalist who was kidnapped in Syria, update the media about their son’s condition as they continue to push for his release on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Moustafa told Fox News Digital he was aware of the article and plans to go “straight there” in the coming days to find out more information.

“It is every Syrian’s job to do everything they can to get Austin back to his mother and his father, to his country, to his home,” he said.