US, Syria exchange messages on journalist Austin Tice, Oman’s FM says

US, Syria exchange messages on journalist Austin Tice, Oman’s FM says

MUSCAT, Oman — Syria and the United States are exchanging messages with the help of Oman over the fate of missing American journalist Austin Tice, the Gulf country's chief diplomat told Al-Monitor.   

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi discussed the US engagement with Syria on Tice's case during a wide-ranging interview in the Omani capital on June 14. The conversation also touched on the Arab Gulf country’s relations with China and Israel, its peace efforts in Yemen and its longtime role as a regional mediator. 

“Our neutrality is not passive," Albusaidi said. "It's constructive, it's positive, it's proactive."

“We really stick to the principle of, how do we create a sustainable environment of peace and security and stability so that our people and our generations can prosper," he said. 

'Process has started' on US-Syria hostage talks  

Lebanese news outlet Al-Modon first reported in April that US and Syrian officials had met in the Omani capital of Muscat to discuss Tice, a freelance journalist who disappeared more than a decade ago covering Syria's civil war. Albusaidi did not confirm that his country hosted such talks, but said there has been an exchange of messages between Washington and Damascus "partly" with Oman's help. 

“We know at