Travis Timmerman, 29, was imprisoned in Syria after crossing into the country on a Christian pilgrimage in June.
Published On 13 Dec 2024
United States officials have revealed that Travis Timmerman, a 29-year-old US citizen who disappeared into the Syrian prison system seven months ago, has been released and taken out of the country.
Citing unnamed government sources, the news agencies Reuters and The Associated Press reported on Friday that Timmerman had been flown to Jordan to meet with US officials.
Timmerman had been missing since June, after he crossed into Syria near the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle.
Once in the country, he had been imprisoned under the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
But in recent weeks, Syrian opposition forces, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group, pushed southwards in a lightning offensive, capturing major government strongholds and toppling al-Assad’s administration.
On December 8, al-Assad fled to Russia, ending more than a half-century of his family’s rule.
Timmerman’s release comes as prisoners throughout the al-Assad government’s notorious prison system are set free. For years, organisations like Human Rights Watch have chronicled reports of widespread torture, starvation and disease inside the detention facilities, leading to deaths in government custody.
Some Syrians have reportedly spent years, even decades, inside the facilities’ walls, with no contact with the outside world.
Timmerman, however, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was not treated poorly in the Syrian prison where he was held, known as the Palestine Branch. He explained he was captured while on a Christian pilgrimage.
A US official told Reuters that Timmerman had been transported to the al-Tanf military garrison in Syria, which is located near the border with Jordan and Ira