A US man, detained for months in a Syrian prison after entering the country on foot, has described being freed by hammer-wielding men as rebels overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The man – who later identified himself as Travis Timmerman to the BBC’s US news partner CBS – was found by residents near the capital Damascus.
It comes as rebels say they intend to close Assad’s notoriously harsh prisons and track down those involved in torturing or killing detainees.
“We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice,” said rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
Footage posted on social media showed Mr Timmerman lying on a sofa as residents spoke to local reporters.
He said he had been arrested upon entering the country seven months ago.
The Americanwas reported as missing in May, having last been seen in the Hungarian capital Budapest, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Hungarian authorities.
On Monday, a day after rebels took control of Damascus and toppled Assad, Mr Timmerman said two men armed with a hammer broke open his prison door.
It was “busted down, it woke me up”, he said.
“I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare could have been more active than it ended up being… Once we got out, there was no resistance, there was no real fighting.”
The 30-year-old said he left prison with a large group of people and had been attempting to make his way to Jordan.
He said he “had a few moments of fear” when he left the prison, adding that he had since been more worried about finding somewhere to sleep.
However local people had been receptive to his requests for food and assistance, he told reporters.
“They were coming to me, mostly,” Mr Timmerman said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that Washington was “working to bring [Mr Timmerman] home”.
Blinken, speaking during a visit to Jordan, added that he could not give any details about “exactly what’s going to happen”.Thousands of prisoners have been released since the fall of Assad over the weekend.
Footage has shown men, women and in some cases children emerging from overcrowded windowless cells, often disorientated and unaware of events that had taken place outside.
However, Mr Timmerman appears to have been relatively well-treated, telling CBS: “I’m feeling well. I’ve been fed and I’ve been watered, so I’m feeling well.”
He added that he had had the use of a mobile phone during his detention and had spoken to his family three weeks ago.
Speaking to fellow US outlet NBC, Mr Timmerman said he had crossed the mountains between Lebanon and Syria on a “pilgrimage” and had “been reading the scripture a lot”. He declined the opportunity to be put in touch with American officials.
