An American man has been found near Damascus after being released from a Syrian prison

An American man who identified himself as Travis Timmerman was found near the Syrian capital Damascus after being released from prison as rebels took over the country.

Mr Timmerman, who said he was arrested when he entered Syria seven months ago, told the BBC’s US news partner CBS that he had been trying to leave the country since his release after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

He said two men armed with a hammer broke the prison door on Monday.

“My door broke, he woke me up,” he said.

“I thought the guards were already there, so I thought the fight would be more intense than it ended up being… When we got out, there was no resistance, no real fighting.”

The 30-year-old suspect said he left prison with a group of people and was trying to go to Jordan.

He said he had “a few moments of fear” when he left the prison, adding that he was worried about finding a place to sleep.

Mr. Timmerman had been missing from Budapest, Hungary since May, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Thousands of prisoners have been released since the fall of Assad over the weekend.

The Assad regime was notorious for its extremely harsh prisons, and the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated that around 60,000 people were tortured and killed in the UK. the prisons run by the deposed president.

However, Mr Timmerman appears to be doing well, telling CBS: “I feel fine. I’ve been fed and watered, so I’m fine.”

He went on to say that he used a mobile phone while he was in custody and spoke to his family three weeks ago.