WASHINGTON — The White House has given the rebel group that toppled the Syrian government a list of former officials who might have knowledge about Austin Tice, an American journalist who was abducted in Damascus in 2012.

The list of names provided to the group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is short, officials said, because U.S. investigators believe that only a small group in the Assad government knows the details of the case.

The outreach to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the U.S. designated a terrorist organization in 2014, reflects the Biden administration’s intense efforts to find out what happened to Tice and take advantage of the group’s willingness to help in the search.

Among the former Syrian officials on the list are Ali Mamlouk, a former head of Syria’s National Security Bureau intelligence service; Bassam al-Hassan, a close adviser to Bashar Assad, Syria’s ousted leader; and Hussam Luqa, a general who ran the General Intelligence Directorate, U.S. officials said.

Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, directed that the information be provided to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the days after the fall of the Assad government, according to U.S. officials, who were not authorized to talk publicly about the discussions with the group.

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White House Hoping for Russian Support

The White House hopes that the Russians might be able to help. Assad fled to Moscow, and U.S. officials have asked Russia to speak with him about Tice. They have also reached out to Lebanese officials who might have insights into some of the people on the list who escaped to Beirut, such as Mamlouk. Al-Hassan’s location is unknown.

The United States also gave the rebels a list of possible places in Syria where Tice might be.

Journalists and nongovernmental workers have been searching prisons and other sites for clues about Tice but to no avail. The search has been complicated by Israeli bombings of Syrian military sites, which could contain clues about Tice.

The United States had previously asked Israeli officials to avoid striking prisons where Tice might have been held or that could have information about him.

In a letter to Tice’s mother sent Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he was coordinating with the Americans. He said the Israeli army was not active in the area where Tice might be but did not provide details about the location.

The United States is weighing sending Roger D. Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, to Damascus, but the decision is complicated by security concerns and the U.S. designation of the rebel group as a terrorist organization, officials said. Since the Syrian government fell, Carstens has traveled to Beirut and Amman, Jordan, trying to advance the Tice case.

Officials said if credible information surfaced, the U.S. government could move quickly, pointing to the military’s presence in Syria. Last week, when an American who had vanished nearly seven months ago emerged from a Syrian prison, the U.S. military flew him out of the country to Jordan.

Tice was abducted in August 2012. Weeks later, he appeared blindfolded in a video with masked men carrying assault rifles. Former American officials believe that the video was a ruse to blame militants for his abduction.

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Investigators Think Tice Escaped Then Found

Investigators believe that Tice briefly escaped weeks after he was seized but was found by Syrian intelligence in a neighborhood in Damascus.

A witness who has spoken to the FBI said al-Hassan was involved in Tice’s capture and imprisonment. The witness said al-Hassan was furious when Tice escaped.

After he was recaptured, Tice was placed in a detention facility under the control of al-Hassan, who was in charge of Assad’s security.

FBI agents have worked for years to piece together what happened to Tice and perhaps bring criminal charges as it has in other hostage cases. The FBI and the Justice Department recently charged Syrian officials with committing war crimes.

The Biden administration has tried repeatedly to pry information out of the Syrians but failed. In 2022 and 2023, Brett McGurk and Joshua Geltzer, senior White house officials, traveled to Oman to meet with Imad Moustapha, a former Syrian ambassador, U.S. officials said.

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The U.S. officials confronted Moustapha with a document showing that the Syrians had Tice in their custody in 2012. The document, one of the U.S. officials said, was the equivalent of what is known in law enforcement circles as a “BOLO” — or be on the lookout — as Syrian officials combed Damascus looking for Tice after his escape.

Mamlouk has played a reoccurring role in U.S. efforts to learn more about what happened to Tice. In 2017, Mike Pompeo, the CIA director at the time, spoke on the phone with Mamlouk about Tice. A senior CIA official later traveled to Damascus during the Trump administration and spoke with Mamlouk.

Then in 2020, Carstens went to Damascus seeking answers from Mamlouk. As in previous encounters with U.S. officials, Mamlouk disclosed nothing about Tice.

Last week, the FBI released an age-enhanced picture of Tice, who would be 43 years old.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Adam Goldman/Daniel Berehulak
c. 2024 The New York Times Company