American man found near Damascus after months in Syrian prison

An American man, held for months in a Syrian prison after entering the country on foot, has described being freed by hammer-wielding men as rebels overthrew Bashar al’s regime. -Assad.

The man – who later identified himself as Travis Timmerman with CBS, the BBC’s US news partner – was found by residents near the capital Damascus.

It comes as rebels say they intend to close Assad’s and notoriously harsh prisons hunt down those involved in the torture or killing of detainees.

Rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, said: “We will pursue them in Syria and we ask countries to hand over those who flee so we can reach get justice”.

Footage posted on social media shows Mr. Timmerman lying on a sofa while residents talk to local reporters.

He said he was arrested upon entering the country seven months ago.

American was reported missing in May, last seen in the Hungarian capital Budapest, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Hungarian authorities.

On Monday, a day after rebels took control of Damascus and ousted Assad, Mr. Timmerman said two men wielding hammers broke down his prison door.

“It was destroyed, it woke me up,” he said.

“I think the guards are still there, so I think the fighting might have been more active at the end… When we got out, there was no resistance, no real fighting.”

The 30-year-old man said he left the prison with a large group of people and was trying to make his way to Jordan.

He said he “had a few scary moments” as he left the prison, adding that he was more worried about finding somewhere to sleep.

However, he told reporters that locals accepted his requests for food and support.

“Mostly they come to me,” Mr. Timmerman said.

Syria’s new interim government has “released and secured” Timmerman, it confirmed in a message on the Telegram messaging service on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington is “working to deliver [Mr Timmerman] home page”.

Blinken, speaking during a visit to Jordan, added that he could not provide any details about “exactly what’s going to happen.”

Thousands of prisoners have been released since Assad fell over the weekend.

Footage shows men, women and in some cases children emerging from overcrowded windowless cells, often disoriented and unaware of the events taking place outside.

However, Mr. Timmerman appeared to be treated relatively well, telling CBS: “I feel fine. I’ve been fed and hydrated so I feel fine.”

He added that he had used his cell phone during his detention and had spoken to his family three weeks ago.

Speaking to US news agency NBC, Mr Timmerman said he had crossed the mountains between Lebanon and Syria on a “pilgrimage” and had “read the Bible a lot”.

He refused the opportunity to interact with American officials.

Richard Timmerman, who identified himself as the freed prisoner’s uncle, said the last time he heard from the man he was working in Chicago.

“The family searched for him but no one could find anything about him,” the New York Times quoted him as saying.

“He is very responsible,” he added. “He’s not the criminal type.”

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US had asked Syria’s main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to help locate and free American journalist Austin Tice.

A freelance journalist, Mr. Tice was reportedly arrested near Damascus on August 14, 2012 while he was covering the country’s civil war.

He was last seen in a video, blindfolded and appearing distressed – posted online weeks after his arrest. The US believes he is being held by the Assad regime.

Chairperson Joe Biden said the US believes Mr. Tice is aliveBut they must pinpoint his location.

Syria’s new leadership said on Thursday that the search for Mr. Tice was “ongoing” and was ready to “cooperate directly” with the United States to find Americans who disappeared under the Assad regime.

The now-collapsed regime was famous for its extremely harsh prisons, where the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates nearly 60,000 people were tortured and killed.

Across Syria this week, families desperate to find loved ones flocked to these dark prison sites.

The Syrian Civil Defense Organization, known as the White Helmets, assisted in the search – including at the notorious Saydnaya prison complex, described by human rights groups as a “human slaughterhouse”.

“We are looking for secret prisons in some areas of Damascus,” Raed Saleh, director of the White Helmets, told the BBC.

“We can’t say too much about this, but we’re looking into it.”

The White Helmets, known for pulling survivors from the rubble of Syria’s brutal civil war, said they had helped rescue thousands of detainees from prisons.

But many families are still searching in vain.

“What happened in Saydnaya was very painful for the families who were waiting for their loved ones,” Saleh admitted.

“Our inability to contact anyone else in Saydnaya after the initial release of prisoners means that those there are either dead or elsewhere.

“We have at least two teams looking for prisoners.

“A team with police sniffer dogs is searching for survivors. Another team specializes in breaking locks and breaking into cells.”