web counter
LEXO PA REKLAMA!

SHKARKO APP

App Store
Google Play

American freed by rebels in Syria, sent to Jordan

2024-12-14 10:57:02, Kosova & Bota CNA

American freed by rebels in Syria, sent to Jordan

The US military said on Friday it had flown from Syria to Jordan an American who disappeared seven months ago in former President Bashar Assad's notorious prison system and was among thousands freed this week by rebels.

Travis Timmerman, 29, was flown to Jordan on a military helicopter, according to two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity and could not provide details on the ongoing operation.

It is unclear where Mr Timmerman will be based next. He thanked those who rescued him but told US officials he would like to stay in the region, according to a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Mr Timmerman was arrested after crossing into Syria while on a Christian pilgrimage to a mountain in the Lebanese town of Zahle in June.

In an interview Friday with the Associated Press news agency, he said he had not been mistreated while in the notorious detention facility known as the Palestine Branch, operated by Syrian intelligence.

Mr Timmerman said he was freed on Monday morning after rebels seized control of Damascus and ousted Assad, along with a young Syrian and 70 women prisoners, some of whom were carrying children.

He added that he was held separately from Syrian and other prisoners of Arab descent and said he was not aware of any other Americans being held in the same facility.

Mr. Timmerman is from Urbana, Missouri.

His mother, Stacey Gardiner, said she had been told her son was being sent to a military base in Jordan. The family has not yet spoken to him.

Mouaz Moustafa, a US-based Syrian opposition activist who worked with the rebels to secure Mr Timmerman's transfer, tweeted a photo of the freed American standing next to a man in US military uniform in the region's desert.

" Safe and sound again in the hands of the Americans ", Mr. Moustafa wrote.

Meanwhile, American officials are continuing the search for Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared 12 years ago, near Damascus./ VOA





Lajmet e fundit nga