Syria has affirmed that US accusations regarding the arrest of American citizen Austin Tice are baseless and represent a deliberate distortion of the facts.

"Misleading statements were issued Wednesday by the American administration, represented by the White House, that included false accusations against the Syrian government of arresting American citizen Austin Tice, a former U.S. Marine, and claimed that he was working as a journalist, entered the Syrian territory and was lost there,” Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

Those accusations regarding Tice or other Americans are baseless, and represent a deliberate distortion of facts, and a continuation of this American administration’s approach of directing accusations against Syria, in addition to its aggressive practices against it, through its violation of Syrian territorial sovereignty, and its support for separatist militias and terrorist groups, its plundering of Syrian resources, and its imposition of unilateral coercive measures that cause suffering to Syrians,” the statement added.