{"id":136382,"date":"2024-12-13T01:17:50","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T18:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136382"},"modified":"2024-12-13T01:17:50","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T18:17:50","slug":"us-man-found-near-damascus-after-months-in-syrian-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136382","title":{"rendered":"US man found near Damascus after months in Syrian prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 ejjhCR\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 cOpVbP hide-when-no-script\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp 240w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp 480w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/640\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp 640w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/800\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp 1024w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1536\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp 1536w\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/630e\/live\/fb3285b0-b888-11ef-b9e2-61ad42d5e760.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Getty Images Travis Timmerman looks up, with a camera pointing down on him, as he sits in a dark room. \" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\"\/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 fxQYxK\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"sc-8353772e-0 cvNhQw\">Travis Timmerman said he was arrested after entering the country on foot<!-- --><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">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.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The man &#8211; who later identified himself as Travis Timmerman to the BBC&#8217;s US news partner CBS &#8211; was found by residents near the capital Damascus. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">It comes as rebels say they intend to close Assad&#8217;s notoriously harsh prisons and <!-- --><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c047579lzklo\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 bZUiKB\" rel=\"noopener\">track down those involved in torturing or killing detainees.<!-- --><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice,&#8221; said rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Footage posted on social media showed Mr Timmerman lying on a sofa as residents spoke to local reporters.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">He said he had been arrested upon entering the country seven months ago.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The American<!-- --><b id=\"\" class=\"sc-7dcfb11b-0 kVRnKf\"> <!-- --><\/b>was 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.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">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.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">It was &#8220;busted down, it woke me up&#8221;, he said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare could have been more active than it ended up being\u2026 Once we got out, there was no resistance, there was no real fighting.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The 30-year-old said he left prison with a large group of people and had been attempting to make his way to Jordan. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">He said he &#8220;had a few moments of fear&#8221; when he left the prison, adding that he had since been more worried about finding somewhere to sleep. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">However local people had been receptive to his requests for food and assistance, he told reporters.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;They were coming to me, mostly,&#8221; Mr Timmerman said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that Washington was &#8220;working to bring [Mr Timmerman] home&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Blinken, speaking during a visit to Jordan, added that he could not give any details about &#8220;exactly what&#8217;s going to happen&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Thousands of prisoners have been released since the fall of Assad over the weekend. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">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. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">However, Mr Timmerman appears to have been relatively well-treated, telling CBS: &#8220;I&#8217;m feeling well. I&#8217;ve been fed and I&#8217;ve been watered, so I&#8217;m feeling well.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">He added that he had had the use of a mobile phone during his detention and had spoken to his family three weeks ago.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Speaking to fellow US outlet NBC, Mr Timmerman said he had crossed the mountains between Lebanon and Syria on a &#8220;pilgrimage&#8221; and had &#8220;been reading the scripture a lot&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">He declined the opportunity to be put in touch with American officials.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 gfTVSf\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 cOpVbP hide-when-no-script\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/240\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp 240w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp 480w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/640\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp 640w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/800\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp 1024w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1536\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp 1536w\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/d724\/live\/b5017030-b88b-11ef-b084-9bd3d8eb2fef.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Getty Images Travis Timmerman smiles as he is led through a group of men. \" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\"\/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 fxQYxK\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">On Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US had asked Syria&#8217;s main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to help locate and free US journalist Austin Tice.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">A freelance journalist, Mr Tice is thought to have been taken captive close to Damascus on 14 August 2012 while he was covering the country&#8217;s civil war. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">He was last seen in a video, blindfolded and in apparent distress &#8211; posted online weeks after his capture. The US believes he was being held by the Assad regime.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">President <!-- --><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cp3zw1407w6o\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 bZUiKB\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Biden has said the US believes Mr Tice is alive<!-- --><\/a>, but they must pinpoint his location.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The Assad regime was notorious for its extremely harsh prisons, where the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates almost 60,000 people were tortured and killed.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">Across Syria this week, families desperate to find loved ones have been streaming into these dark prison sites.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The Syrian Civil Defence Organisation, known as the White Helmets, has been helping the search \u2013 including in the infamous Saydnaya\u00a0prison complex, <!-- --><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c938lxengy9o\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 bZUiKB\" rel=\"noopener\">described by human rights groups as the &#8220;human slaughterhouse&#8221;.<!-- --><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;We&#8217;re looking for secret prisons in several areas of Damascus,&#8221; Raed Saleh, director of The White Helmets told the BBC. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;We can&#8217;t say too much about this, but we&#8217;re looking.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">The White Helmets, known for pulling survivors from the rubble during Syria&#8217;s devastating civil war, say they helped recover thousands of detainees from the prisons.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">But many families are still searching in vain.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;What took place in Saydnaya is very painful for the families who were waiting for their loved ones,&#8221; Saleh acknowledged. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;Our inability to reach anyone else in Saydnaya after the initial release of prisoners means that those people who were there are either dead or in another place.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;We have at least two teams looking for prisoners.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;One team with police sniffer dogs is looking for survivors. Another team is specialised in lock breaking and entering cells.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn54xk0vkq5o\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Images Travis Timmerman said he was arrested after entering the country on foot A US man, detained for months in a Syrian prison after entering the country on foot, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136382\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=136382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=136382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=136382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=136382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}