Washington, Jan 28 (AFP/APP): The mother of a US journalist missing in Syria since 2012 on Monday appealed to President Donald Trump for help in securing his release, claiming that one or more senior US officials have blocked talks with the Damascus government on the matter. Debra Tice, appearing at a news conference to speak about her son Austin Tice, said she believes the Syrian government was willing to speak with Washington since 2014 but that the US government failed to follow through. “There is a senior US government official who is hesitating or stalling,” she said, declining to offer any specifics or indicate if it was the same person in both the Obama and Trump administrations. The State Department said in response only that that it is in fact working to secure Tice’s release. The photojournalist’s mother said that during one of her visits to Syria in March 2014, she got “a message” from the Syrian government that it would only consider talks with “a US government official of appropriate title” and that she had been pressing Washington on this since that time to accept the offer. Tice said she believed Trump wanted to help secure her son’s release … Continue reading Mother of US journalist missing in Syria appeals to White House