The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has set up a back channel to Syria in an attempt to free an American hostage there, according to a new report.
The move to free former Marine officer Austin Tice came after Mike Pompeo was elected to lead the CIA during the early days of President Donald Trump’s time in the White House, The New York Times reported Friday, citing administration officials.
Pompeo even talked to Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria’s National Security Bureau intelligence service, over the phone, the highest-level contact between Washington and Damascus in years.
The phone call, followed by more high-profile communications between the two governments, raised hopes for Tice’s freedom, officials noted.
However, the effort fell flat after Trump’s authorization in April of a Tomahawak cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase that Washington claimed was being used to carry out chemical attacks on civilians, a claim that was never…