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A6 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 11 augusT 2022
US: Syrian government is holding In reversal, Brazil court reopens

American journalist Tice case of rainforest park

In this July 22, 2019, file photo provided by Rodrigo Vargas, a
boat moves through Cristalino II State Park in the state of Mato
Grosso, Brazil.
Associated Press
by FABIANO MAISON- In 2016, the Vilela family
NAVE made headlines in Brazil
In this image taken from undated video posted to YouTube, American freelance journalist Austin Associated Press for being at the center of
Tice, who had been reporting for American news organizations in Syria until his disappearance in RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — a landmark enforcement
August 2012, prays in Arabic and English while blindfolded in the presence of gunmen. After declaring the deci- operation against defor-
Associated Press sion final, a state court estation in the Amazon.

By BASSEM MROUE there “is no higher priority dad told The Associated backpedaled Monday Brazil’s attorney general
Associated Press in my Administration than Press that “Austin Tice is not and reopened a lawsuit called him the single larg-
BEIRUT (AP) — President Joe the recovery and return of in the hands of Syrian au- that invalidates a protect- est clearer of land in the
Biden said Wednesday the Americans held hostage thorities and we don’t have ed area in Brazil’s Ama- Amazon.
U.S. is certain that the Syr- or wrongfully detained any information about him zon. The judicial reversal The state government did
ian government is holding abroad.” at all.” Mekdad is currently is a setback for a cattle not appeal, citing techni-
American journalist Austin Four years ago, then-U.S. Syria’s foreign minister. rancher dubbed the rain- cal reasons, which led the
Tice, who went missing in envoy to Syria, James Jef- In May, Biden met Tice’s forest’s worst perpetrator. court to declare the deci-
the war-torn country a de- frey, said Tice is believed to parents and reiterated his The Mato Grosso state sion final in April.
cade ago. He urged Da- be alive and held hostage commitment to continue prosecutors’ office an- Mato Grosso, Brazil’s larg-
mascus to help bring Tice in Syria. He didn’t say why to work through all avail- nounced it was the re- est soybean-producing
back home. officials believe this or who able avenues to secure opening, saying the state, is run by governor
Biden’s comments came might be holding him. “Austin’s long overdue re- state’s upper court failed Mauro Mendes, a pro-
in a statement released by In May, top Lebanese se- turn to his family.” to notify the office of its agribusiness politician
the White House to mark curity official Maj. Gen. Ab- Tice is from Houston and his decision, as it is required and ally of far-right Presi-
the 10th anniversary of bas Ibrahim met with U.S. work had been published in lawsuits that involve the dent Jair Bolsonaro, who
Tice’s abduction, which officials in Washington as by The Washington Post, public interest. The state’s has repeatedly said Brazil
took place when he was part of mediation efforts McClatchy newspapers upper court confirmed has too many protected
in Syria covering its now between the U.S. and Syria and other outlets. He went the reversal to The Associ- areas and vowed not to
lengthy conflict. They were for Tice’s release. Ibrahim, to Syria to cover the con- ated Press. create more of them.
the clearest indication so the chief of Lebanon’s flict that started in 2011 and The Cristalino II State Park The legal events hap-
far that the U.S. is certain General Security Director- has since left hundreds of stretches for 118,000 hect- pened in recent months,
Tice is being held by the ate, has mediated com- thousands dead and near- ares (292,000 acres), larg- but it was only last week
government of President plicated hostage releases ly half the pre-war popula- er than New York City, and that the local press broke
Bashar Assad. in the past. Tice is one of tion of 23 million displaced. lies in the transition zone news of the park’s dis-
Tice went missing shortly af- two Americans who went More than 5 million of the between the Amazon solution, sparking the
ter his 31st birthday on Aug. missing in Syria. The other displaced are refugees and drier Cerrado biomes. mobilization of Brazil’s
14, 2012 at a checkpoint in is Majd Kamalmaz, a psy- outside the country. It is home to the endemic environmentalist organi-
a contested area west of chologist from Virginia, who In the final months of the white-fronted spider mon- zations. Now with the law-
the capital Damascus. A vanished in Syria in 2017. Trump administration, two key (Ateles marginatus), a suit reopened, the state
video released a month lat- U.S. Secretary of State U.S. officials — including species endangered due prosecutor’s office plans
er showed him blindfolded Antony Blinken also said in the government’s top hos- to habitat loss. to appeal to higher, na-
and held by armed men, a statement that “we will tage negotiator, Carstens In a 3-2 decision, Mato tional-level courts, In the
saying “Oh, Jesus.” He has continue to pursue all avail- — made a secret visit to Grosso´s upper court had meantime, the state gov-
not been heard from since. able avenues to bring Aus- Damascus to seek infor- ruled that the govern- ernment cannot reverse
“We know with certainty tin home and work tirelessly mation on Tice and other ment’s creation of the the park’s creation as it
that he has been held by until we succeed in doing Americans who have dis- park in 2001 was illegal had announced it would
the Government of Syria,” so.” appeared in Syria. It was because it took place do last week.
Biden said in the statement Blinken said Special Presi- the highest-level talk in without public consulta- “The park continues,”
adding that “we have re- dential Envoy for Hostage years between the U.S. tion. The plaintiff is a com- said Edilene Amaral, a
peatedly asked the gov- Affairs Roger Carstens will and Assad’s government, pany linked to Antonio legal consultant with
ernment of Syria to work continue to engage with though Syrian officials of- José Rossi Junqueira Vile- Mato Grosso Socio-envi-
with us so that we can bring the Syrian government in fered no meaningful infor- la, who has been fined ronmental Observatory,
Austin home.” close coordination with the mation on Tice. millions of dollars for defor- a non-profit network, in
“On the tenth anniversary White House, the Hostage “The Tice family deserves estation in Brazil and steal- a statement. “Any activ-
of his abduction, I am call- Recovery Fusion Cell, and answers, and more impor- ing thousands of hectares ity incompatible with full
ing on Syria to end this and the State Department. tantly, they deserve to be (acres) of the Amazon protection remains pro-
help us bring him home,” In 2016, then- Syrian Deputy swiftly reunited with Austin,” rainforest, including inside hibited and subject to
Biden said. He added Foreign Minister Faisal Mek- Biden said.q Cristalino II. penalties.”q