An American who turned up in Syria on Thursday said he was detained after crossing into the country on foot seven months ago on a Christian pilgrimage. Travis Timmerman appears to have been among thousands of people released from the country's notorious prisons after rebels reached Damascus over the weekend,

A Missouri man found in Syria told NBC News on Thursday he spent months in a Syrian prison after crossing into the country on a "pilgrimage" to Damascus. It was not widely known that the man, who identified himself as Travis Timmerman and went missing in Hungary in May,

The man identifying himself only as “Travis,” and said that he was a pilgrim who had been detained after crossing into Syria on foot.

Timmerman, 29, had not contacted his family for months after he went on a trip to Eastern Europe. His discovery came in the wake of the overthrow of the Assad regime.

DAMASCUS, Syria — A Missouri man found in Syria told ... Authorities in Missouri and Hungarian capital Budapest had earlier this year put out missing person reports for a man named Pete ...

Syria — An American man who identified himself as Pete Travis Timmerman was found in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus by local residents on Thursday. Timmerman was last seen in Budapest ...

The 29-year-old from Missouri's Ozarks had last been seen in Budapest, Hungary. He said he was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon and held in prison until the fall of the Assad regime. DAMASCUS, Syria — An American ...

A Missouri man found in Syria told NBC News on Thursday he spent ... Authorities in Missouri and Hungarian capital Budapest had earlier this year put out missing person reports for a man named ...

DAMASCUS, Syria — A Missouri man found in Syria told ... Authorities in Missouri and Hungarian capital Budapest had earlier this year put out missing person reports for a man named Pete ...

The, Turkey and Israel all responded to the fall of the Assad government in Damascus by launching bombing campaigns on Syria. Israel also

Authorities say the suspect does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam and in many posts on social media expressed support for the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

By Patricia Cohen Reporting from London Although the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria was shockingly quick, rebuilding the devastated economy he left behind will be ...