The Trump administration defended US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after criticism from the mother of an American journalist missing in Syria who said Mr Pompeo was undermining efforts to free her son.
In comments released by the State Department, White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and Roger Carstens, US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, said Mr Pompeo was committed to bringing home Americans detained abroad.
On Monday, Debra Tice, the mother of freelance journalist and former US Marine Corps officer, Austin, who went missing while reporting in Syria, said recent comments from Mr Pompeo suggested that "there is nothing he is willing to do to bring my son home".
Mr Carstens said he had a lot of respect for Ms Tice but "I disagree respectfully with her conclusion".
“Contrary to what Ms Tice has written and stated, Secretary Pompeo has been unwavering in his efforts to bring Austin Tice home," he said.
Mr Carstens said it was under Mr Pompeo's leadership that he was authorised to contact unidentified Syrians last summer to discuss a face-to-face meeting to seek Syria's help in finding and freeing Mr Tice and another US citizen, Majd Kamalmaz, among others.
Mr Carstens said Mr Pompeo ordered him and National Security Council official Kash Patel to visit Syria for what he described as the first direct US-Syrian diplomatic engagement in a decade.
"Mr Pompeo has remained intensely engaged on the results of this trip. That is why I read, with concern, Ms Tice's statement accusing the secretary as being an obstacle to obtaining Austin's release," Mr Carstens said.
Mr Pompeo pushed for the recent trip to Damascus as well as continuing recovery efforts, he said.
Mr O'Brien, who previously held Mr Carstens' post, also defended Mr Pompeo. In comments that did not specifically name Mr Tice, Mr O'Brien said Mr Pompeo "played a critical role in this administration's unprecedented success at bringing our citizens home".
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
