This week, a man emerged from a Syrian prison once run by the fallen Bashar al-Assad regime and claimed to be American Travis Timmerman. do not have He said he was in Hungary and then embarked on a “pilgrimage” to Damascus.
said Timmerman, a 29-year-old from Missouri. CBS News, NBC Newsand several other media outlets revealed in a video published Thursday that Assad was arrested in Syria seven months ago, and when Assad fled the country, unidentified armed groups released him and Hayat.・He explained that jihadi fighters from Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) released them indiscriminately. In Assad's prison. The report did not say which prison Timmerman was in or exactly how long he had been incarcerated, but NBC News reported that said He was released on Monday.
HTS, an al-Qaeda splinter that has been waging a civil war against Assad for years, launched a surprise attack in late November that resulted in the capture of the country's second city, Aleppo, and a march toward Damascus that saw Assad move into Russia. I ended up running away. Saturday, his longtime ally. HTS is led by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, a terrorist who once worked for Islamic State's “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. HTS is a US-designated terrorist organization, and Washington is currently offering a $10 million reward for information leading to Jolani's arrest as a result of his long career as an al-Qaeda terrorist.
Mr. Jolani has been involved since the fall of the Assad regime, an Iranian ally that the U.S. government has long sanctioned over its extensive record of human rights atrocities against civilians. tried To rebrand himself as a “pragmatic” politician. Jolani insisted that the jihadists would not massacre Syria's ethnic minorities, but also said they would impose an “Islamic” government across Syria, which is home to thousands of Christians and other religious and ethnic groups.
HTS reportedly confirmed Timmerman's release on Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
HTS-related account on encrypted message site Telegram: “American…Travis Timmerman released and secured'' claimed. “We affirm our readiness to work directly with the U.S. government to locate American citizens disappeared by the former Assad regime.”
Timmerman appears to be a civilian who decided to travel to Syria on his own for personal reasons. He told reporters he was a Christian and was “reading a lot of the Bible” when he went missing in Hungary. After reading this reading, he decided to make a pilgrimage to Damascus, the ancient city that played an important role in St. Paul's conversion. Timmerman reportedly entered Syria illegally and wandered the border area for three days before being arrested by border guards.
The American was initially mistaken for Austin Tice, a journalist who disappeared after arriving at a Damascus checkpoint in 2012 and has been held in an Assad regime prison ever since. President Donald Trump's administration offered a $1 million reward in 2018 for information about Tice. Until Timmerman was discovered, he was believed to be the only American imprisoned in Syria.
In a conversation with reporters, Timmerman said he did not know who Theis was.
Timmerman told CBS News what happened the moment he was released.
“I woke up because the door was broken,” Timmerman explained. “I thought the war might have become more active in the end because I thought the guards were still there…Once we got out there was no resistance and no real fighting. There wasn't.”
The American also claimed his experience in prison was “not that bad”, saying he had enough to eat and water to drink.
“My only regret was that I couldn't go to the bathroom when I wanted to. I was only taken outside to go to the bathroom three times a day,” he said.
Timmerman told NBC News that prison was “a time of peace and meditation, and it's stronger for that,” and insisted that prison was “actually good” for him.
Timmerman said he had not fully processed the feeling of being free and had been wandering around Syria looking for food and a place to stay, relying on the generosity of local people.
“I haven't really thought about it yet. Since then, I've been more worried about finding a place to sleep every night,” he told CBS News about his freedom. “So I’ve been really working.”
The U.S. government acknowledged that it was aware of the reports, but did not provide details about what it was doing regarding Timmerman or the larger situation at issue. Washington, who has been missing for months, is probably telling the truth about who he is, first confirming his identity, then verifying his story, and is in the interest of foreign intelligence services. You will need to make sure that it is not infringed by.
The fall of President Assad led to the release of thousands of prisoners languishing in Syria's penal system, long believed to be rife with torture. Among those identified in Syrian prisons this week are Lebanese Christians arrested decades ago for expressing political opposition to Assad, Iran and Hezbollah.
Unlike Timmerman, who claimed to have been treated well in captivity, most prisoners say they were starved, tortured, and humiliated. UK Sky News Agency published This week's report from Sednaya Prison, one of Assad's most notorious facilities, revealed deplorable conditions and what appeared to be medieval-style torture devices.
Sky News journalist Yalda Hakim said: “There were plastic bags filled with faeces and urine because people couldn't go to the toilets, if they were allowed to go to the several toilets here.” He explained. “They only had a few seconds to relieve themselves and throw the plastic bags in the corner of the cell.”
Hakim also found evidence of mass hangings and the use of “shredding machines” to kill prisoners.
