An American man has been found near Damascus after months in a Syrian prison

An American man, who was held in a Syrian prison for months after entering the country on foot, described being freed by men with hammers when rebels overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The man – who later identified himself as Travis Timmerman to the BBC’s US news affiliate CBS – was found by residents near the capital Damascus.

This comes as the rebels say they intend to close Assad’s notorious prisons again tracking down those involved in torturing or killing prisoners.

“We will follow them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so that we can achieve justice,” said rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Pictures posted on social media showed Mr Timmerman lying on a sofa while residents spoke to local reporters.

He said he was arrested when he entered the country seven months ago.

An American he was reported missing in May, having been last seen in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Hungarian authorities.

On Monday, a day after rebels took power in Damascus and toppled Assad, Mr Timmerman said two men armed with a hammer broke down the door of his prison.

“It exploded, it 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 was released from prison, adding that he is now very worried about finding a place to sleep.

However, the locals had accepted his requests for food and help, he told reporters.

“They were coming to me, mostly,” Mr Timmerman said.

Syria’s new interim government has “freed and protected” Mr Timmerman, he confirmed in a message on the Telegram messaging service on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington is “working to deliver [Mr Timmerman] at home”.

Blinken, speaking during a visit to Jordan, added that he could not give details “for sure what will happen”.

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

The images showed men, women and in some cases children emerging from overcrowded, windowless cells, often confused and unaware of the events outside.

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.

Speaking to the American company NBC, Mr Timmerman said he crossed the mountains between Lebanon and Syria “on a trip” and “read this document a lot”.

He declined the opportunity to contact American officials.

Richard Timmerman, who identified himself as the released inmate’s grandfather, said the last time he heard from him he was working in Chicago.

“The family was looking for him, but no one found anything about him,” he was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

“You have a responsibility,” he added. “He is not a criminal.”

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States had asked the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to help find and free American journalist Austin Tice.

A freelance journalist, Mr Tice is believed to have been kidnapped near Damascus on 14 August 2012 while covering the country’s civil war.

He was last seen on video, blindfolded and distressed – posted online weeks after his capture. The US believes he was held hostage by the Assad regime.

The president Joe Biden said the US believes Mr Tice is alivebut they must point to his place.

Syria’s new leadership said on Thursday that the search for Mr Tice was “continuing,” and that it was ready to “cooperate directly” with the US to find Americans who have disappeared under the Assad regime.

The now crumbling regime was notorious for its extremely harsh prisons, where the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated that around 60,000 people were tortured and killed.

Across Syria this week, families desperate to find their loved ones have been flocking to these dark prisons.

The Syrian Civil Defense Organisation, known as the White Helmets, has been assisting in the search – including in the notorious Saydnaya prison, it has been described by human rights groups as a “killing house”.

“We want secret prisons in many parts of Damascus,” Raed Saleh, director of The White Helmets told the BBC.

“We can’t talk too much about this, but we’re looking.”

The White Helmets, known for pulling survivors out of the rubble during Syria’s civil war, say they have helped bring thousands of prisoners back from prisons.

But many families are still searching in vain.

“What happened in Saydnaya is very painful for the families who were waiting for their loved ones,” admitted Saleh.

“Our inability to reach anyone else in Saydnaya after the release of the prisoners for the first time means that those people who were there are dead or elsewhere.

“At least we have two groups looking for prisoners.

“One team with police dogs is searching for survivors. Another team is working on breaking and entering the cells.”