American freed after 7 months detention in Syria

An American citizen detained in Syria was freed on Thursday after rebels overtook the city of Damascus, toppling the rule of President Bashar Assad and releasing thousands from imprisonment according to the Associated Press.

Pete Travis Timmerman, 29, from Urbana, Missouri, emerged after months of captivity in an online video, which some mistakenly believed showed Austin Tice, a journalist who went missing in the country over a decade ago.

In the footage, Timmerman’s living conditions were shown and he can be seen lying on a mattress while his captors said he was being treated well and would be returned home safely, according to reports from the AP.

The American confirmed the statements in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV network.

“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,” Timmerman said, explaining he was only allowed to relieve himself three times a day.

“I was not beaten and the guards treated me decently,” he added.

Timmerman also admitted to crossing into Syria illegally on foot from Lebanon while on a Christian pilgrimage.

Earlier this year, he was identified by the Missouri State Highway Patrol bulletin as a missing person in June during a stint in Hungary, according to the AP. Authorities in Hungary issued an additional missing persons report noting that he was last seen at a church in Budapest.

U.S. officials traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Aqaba, Jordan did not immediately respond to AP’s requests for comment on Timmerman’s release.

This week, Roger Carstens, a top U.S. negotiator, traveled to Lebanon with the goal of discovering more details on the whereabouts of Tice.

His family has urged the Biden administration to act on information suggesting he is alive and ensure that he is returned home safely.

President Biden has previously stated he believes Assad’s government was detaining Tice, however, the former Syrian leader denied those claims.

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