Syria releases U.S. freelance photographer Kevin Patrick Dawes
By Adam Goldman
April 8, 2016 at 1:11 PM
An undated photo posted by the FBI shows Kevin Patrick Dawes, a freelance photographer who traveled to Syria via Turkey in September 2012.(Federal Bureau of Investigation)
The Syrian government has freed an American freelance photographer who was abducted after traveling to the country in 2012, according to two U.S. officials.
Kevin Patrick Dawes, 33, from San Diego, was released following months of negotiations, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details of Dawes’s release have not yet been made public.
In a separate case, Oman released a statement that another U.S. citizen — this one held by Yemeni rebels in Sanaa — had also been freed. Officials declined to identify the American.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry was personally involved in winning Dawes’s release, which took place in the past few days, according to a State Department official. Another official said the Syrians handed Dawes over to Russian authorities, who then flew him out of Syria. Russia has been one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s biggest backers.
Officials said the Czech Republic, which represents U.S. interests in Syria, played a role in talks with the Syrians. The United States closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012 as the war intensified.
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Kevin Patrick Dawes, 33, from San Diego, was captured in 2012 after crossing into Syria from Turkey. (TWP)
Dawes had been allowed in recent months to call his family and receive care packages, a signal that the Syrian government was moving toward releasing him, officials said.
Dawes’s case drew little attention in the media, but his release is believed to be a positive sign in potentially securing the freedom of freelance journalist Austin Tice, another U.S. hostage and a former U.S. Marine who disappeared in Syria in 2012. Tice had been contributing articles to The Washington Post, McClatchy Newspapers and other news outlets.
The Syrian government has never acknowledged detaining Tice, but U.S. officials believe the government or a group affiliated with it is holding him.
“The [Daweses’] private, painful ordeal is finally over. We are delighted for Kevin & his family,” said a statement from a Twitter account associated with the Tice family.
Dawes’s family did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
State Department spokesman John Kirby on Friday confirmed that an American had been released.
“While privacy considerations prevent us from commenting further, we continue to work through our Czech protecting power in Syria to get information on the welfare and whereabouts of Austin Tice and other U.S. citizens missing and detained in Syria,” Kirby said in a statement. “We appreciate the efforts of the Czech mission on behalf of U.S. persons.”
A souk, or open-air market, in the old city of Aleppo. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)The inside of the market in Aleppo. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A girl stands in a room that has a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hanging on the wall. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Women gather on steps outside of the University of Aleppo. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A retired teacher, 61, left, from from the rebel held area of al-Shaar, sits in a bus at a station on the government-controlled side of Aleppo. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)People at the Aleppo Public Park on the government-held side of the city. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A boy buys balloons from a vendor at Aleppo Public Park. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For the Washington Post)People pose for a picture in front of an image of Syrian President Bassar Al-Assad in Aleppo Public Park. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A man sits near a checkpoint along a road from Aleppo to Khanaser. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)The skyline of Aleppo. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Images of martyrs are displayed on the outside of a cafe at Aleppo Public Park. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Women sit in Foresta cafe in the al-Azizia neighborhood of Aleppo. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)The Abdel Badih Zanabili soap factory in Aleppo. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Children play at a park in the Midan neighborhood of Aleppo, part of the city that is divided by the front line. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Buses and cars in Damascus on a cloudy day. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Customers sit at a cafe in Marjeh Square in central Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A man and passersby in central Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A poster of President Bashar al-Assad in central Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Visitors at the entrance of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Marjeh Square in central Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A bakery in the Zahira neighborhood of Damascus, the last outpost before reaching the opposition-controlled Yarmouk Camp. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A poster of Assad hangs in the Old City of Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Young girls take a selfie across the street from an image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)An image of President Bashar al-Assad adorns a wall in the old city of Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Memorabilia featuring the images of President Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin are for sale at a shop in Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)People line up at a bakery in the Zahira neighborhood of Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnol/For The Washington Post)A man sits in his damaged house in the Sayyidah Zaynab neighborhood on the outskirts of Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Damaged buildings where a bombing took place in Sayyidah Zaynab outside Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A bombed area in Sayyidah Zaynab, which is on the outskirts of Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A man sits in a park in the al-Zahira neighborhood in southern Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)A woman stands at a grave site in Sayyidah Zaynab outside Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)Pilgrims walk to the Shiite shrine of Sayyidah Zaynab on the outskirts of Damascus. (Lorenzo Tugnoli/For The Washington Post)
Photo Gallery: Inside Syria
Dawes was taken after crossing into Syria from Turkey, according to the FBI. This wasn’t the first time he had gone to a conflict zone.
In June 2011, he traveled to Libya as a medical aid worker but then fought alongside forces battling Moammar Gaddafi’s government. Dawes said the Libyan government had been targeting medical workers. “It was at that point we decided we had no choice,” he told NPR in an interview in 2011 from Libya. “It was either this or perish from here.”
Dawes told NPR that at one point in Libya he started carrying a rifle and began working as a “counter-sniper.” He said he was never in the U.S. military but had 10 years of experience as a trained marksman.
In the interview, Dawes described his reasons for being in Libya. “See the world, experience new things, get in way over my head, but, you know, ultimately survive,” he said.
Carol Morello contributed to this report.
Adam Goldman reports on terrorism and national security for The Washington Post.