An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday mentioned he was detained after crossing into the nation on foot seven months in the past on a Christian pilgrimage.

Travis Timmerman seems to have been amongst hundreds of individuals launched from the nation’s infamous prisons after rebels reached Damascus over the weekend, overthrowing President Bashar Assad and ending his household’s 54-year rule.

As video emerged on-line of Timmerman on Thursday, he was initially mistaken by some for Austin Tice, an American journalist who went lacking in Syria 12 years in the past.

Within the video, Timmerman may very well be seen mendacity on a mattress beneath a blanket in what gave the impression to be a non-public home. A bunch of males within the video mentioned that he was being handled effectively and can be safely returned dwelling.

Later, a Syrian household instructed The Related Press they discovered Timmerman barefoot on a most important street within the countryside of Damascus early on Thursday. He appeared chilly and hungry so that they introduced him again to their dwelling.

“I … fed him and known as a health care provider,” mentioned Mosaed al-Rifai, a 68-year-old waste collector, including that Timmerman appeared disoriented.

Al-Rifai mentioned it was laborious to speak due to the language barrier but it surely appeared Timmerman had been held by an inside safety company. A number of hours after al-Rifai found him, the insurgent group that now controls Syria’s capital arrived on the household’s home to choose him up, he mentioned.

Earlier this 12 months, a Missouri State Freeway Patrol bulletin recognized him as “Pete Travis Timmerman,” 29, and mentioned he had gone lacking in Hungary in early June. In late August, Hungarian police put out a lacking individuals announcement for “Travis Pete Timmerman,” saying he was final seen at a church in Hungary’s capital, Budapest.

Authorities in Missouri and Hungary had shared photographs of a younger man who strongly resembles the one proven in footage on-line from Syria. In interviews with worldwide information shops on Thursday, the person recognized himself as “Travis Timmerman.”

Missouri courtroom data point out Timmerman is from Urbana, Missouri, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Springfield within the southwestern a part of the state. A commencement record from Missouri State College reveals he earned his bachelor’s diploma in finance within the spring of 2017.

Timmerman’s mom, Stacey Collins Gardiner, instructed Nationwide Public Radio that he returned dwelling to Urbana after working in Chicago for a few years. He then left for Budapest with the aim of writing about his Christian religion and serving to folks, she mentioned.

Timmerman had warned her, she added, that his travels may make communication troublesome. After dropping contact with him throughout his keep in Hungary, Gardiner later discovered that her son had gone to Lebanon.

On Thursday, she heard the information he was discovered by the media.

“I’ll hug him. … After which I in all probability gained’t let him go,” she mentioned, laughing. “I’ll say, effectively, thank God you’re nonetheless alive. And I’m so blissful. Our prayers got here true.”

U.S. officers mentioned they have been working to verify Timmerman’s identification and supply the help. From Aqaba, Jordan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken instructed reporters that the White Home was “working to carry him dwelling, to carry him out of Syria” however declined additional remark for privateness causes.

Timmerman later spoke with the Al-Arabiya TV community, saying he had illegally crossed into Syria on foot from the jap Lebanese city of Zahle seven months in the past earlier than being detained and held in a cell alone.

He mentioned that he was handled effectively in detention, however might hear different younger males being tortured.

“It was OK. I used to be fed. I used to be watered. The one issue was that I couldn’t go to the toilet once I needed to,” he mentioned. He mentioned he was solely allowed to go 3 times a day.

“I used to be not crushed and the guards handled me decently,” he added.

Washington’s prime hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, traveled to Lebanon earlier this week in hopes of gathering data on the whereabouts of Tice.

President Joe Biden has mentioned his administration believed Tice was alive and was dedicated to bringing him dwelling, although he additionally acknowledged on Sunday that “we’ve got no direct proof” of his standing. The case has pissed off U.S. intelligence officers for years.

On Thursday, Blinken emphasised the administration’s work on Tice’s case.

“Each single day we’re working to seek out him and to carry him dwelling” Blinken mentioned. “It is a precedence for the USA.”

Tice, who has had his work printed by The Washington Publish, McClatchy newspapers and others, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested space west of Damascus in August 2012 because the Syrian civil battle intensified.

A video launched weeks after Tice went lacking confirmed him blindfolded and held by armed males. He hasn’t been heard from since. Assad’s authorities had denied that it was holding him.

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Comply with the AP‘s Syria protection at https://apnews.com/hub/syria