Lebanese general renews mediation over missing US journalist

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — The head of a mission that assists hostages says a Lebanese security chief has met U.S. officials in Washington as part of mediation between Washington and Damascus for the release of an American journalist missing in Syria. The president of the U.S.-based Hostage Aid Worldwide said on Wednesday that the Lebanese general discussed the fate of six Americans held in the Middle East, but that the “primary objective” of his mission is Austin Tice, a journalist who went missing near the Syrian capital of Damascus a decade ago. Tice, who is from Houston, had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets.