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.