A man identifying himself as Missourian Travis Timmerman tells CBS News he was liberated from a Syrian prison upon dictator Bashar al-Assad's ouster.

Travis Timmerman says he spent seven months in a cell of a notorious Syrian jail, where he says he heard other inmates being tortured.

Travis Timmerman called his release a "blessing" when he spoke to The Associated Press from a hotel room in Damascus, where he arrived late Thursday. He was among the thousands of people released from Syria's sprawling military prisons this week after rebels reached Damascus, overthrowing Assad and ending his family's 54-year rule.