Who is Travis Timmerman? American who travelled to Syria on Christian pilgrimage freed from Assad jail

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Speaking with CBS, Mr Timmerman revealed that he was freed by two men with AK-47s on Monday, after being detained when he entered Syria for “spiritual purposes”. “Once we got out, there was no resistance, there was no real fighting.” open image in gallery Travis Timmerman was freed after several months in Syrian prison Mr Timmerman was at first mistaken by many to be Austin Tice, the American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago and who the US government believes is still alive. open image in gallery Thousands of prisoners were freed after Assad’s regime fell, including from the notorious Sednaya prison President Joe Biden said on Sunday his administration believed Mr Tice is still alive. The government believes they can get him back, he told reporters in the White House, while admitting they have “no direct evidence” that he is OK. Mr Tice disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus in August 2012 after the Syrian war broke out a year earlier.