An American who turned up in Syria says he was detained after crossing into the country by foot on a Christian pilgrimage seven months ago.

Travis Timmerman, 29, from Missouri, was found this week by residents wandering barefoot in a suburb south of Syria's capital.

The man, who identified himself as Travis Timmerman to reporters, said he had crossed into Syria from neighboring Lebanon on a “pilgrimage” to Damascus.

U.S. officials say that, for now, it is too dangerous to deploy personnel to look for Austin Tice, who was abducted near Damascus 12 years ago.

In just over a week, Syrian rebel forces seized much of Syria’s northwest. First, the rebels captured Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, then Hama and Homs. On Sunday, they entered Syria’s capital, Damascus, taking the city without a fight as government forces fled.

Many European countries have put asylum applications from Syrians on hold after rebels seized the Syrian capital and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia following 13 years of civil war. Here is what European countries have done: AUSTRIA Austria's caretaker government on Monday ordered a stop to the processing of asylum applications by Syrians.