Syrian
authorities have released a US citizen and he has been handed back to his
family, thanks to the mediation of Lebanon, a Lebanese security official said
on Friday.
The
security official did not give the name of the released American, but he was
later identified as Sam Goodwin, 30, according to a statement from his parents
Thomas and Ann Goodwin.
“We
are grateful to be reunited with our son Sam,” they said. “Sam is healthy and
with his family. We are forever indebted to Lebanese General Abbas Ibrahim and
to all others who helped secure the release of our son.”
The
statement gave no other details, saying, “Right now, we appreciate our privacy
as we reconnect with Sam.”
The
security official said Lebanon’s security chief Abbas Ibrahim had conducted the
mediation. While not identifying Goodwin as the person released, the official
said it was not Austin Tice, a journalist who disappeared in Syria in 2012.
The
US State Department did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Several
US citizens have been held in Syria since the war began there in 2011,
including people held by jihadist groups such as ISIS.
The
United States has declined to say who it believes is holding Tice, but has said
it believes he is alive and has sought the help of the Syrian government’s close
ally Russia to free him.
Last
year the family of another American, Majd Kamalmaz, told the New York Times
that he had disappeared at a government checkpoint in Damascus in 2017.
Last
month, Ibrahim flew to Iran to complete the release and repatriation of Nizar
Zakka, a Lebanese citizen with permanent residency in the United States who was
detained there in 2015.
