DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday says he was detained after crossing into the nation by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months in the past.
Travis Timmerman seems to have been amongst 1000’s 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 stated he was being handled nicely and could be safely returned house.
There was no instant remark from U.S. officers touring with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Aqaba, Jordan.
Timmerman later gave an interview with the Al-Arabiya TV community, saying he had illegally crossed into Syria on foot from the japanese Lebanese city of Zahle seven months in the past, earlier than being detained.
He stated he was handled nicely in detention however might hear different younger males being tortured.
“It was OK. I was fed. I was watered. The one difficulty was that I couldn’t go to the bathroom when I wanted to,” he stated. He stated he was solely allowed to go thrice a day.
“I was not beaten and the guards treated me decently,” he added.
The U.S. authorities’s prime hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, traveled to Lebanon earlier this week in hopes of accumulating data on the whereabouts of Tice.
President Joe Biden has stated his administration believed Tice was alive and was dedicated to bringing him house, although he additionally acknowledged on Sunday that “we have no direct evidence” of his standing.
A video launched weeks after Tice went lacking confirmed him blindfolded and held by armed males. He has not been heard from since. Assad’s authorities had denied that it was holding him.
Initially Printed: December 12, 2024 at 7:42 AM EST
