Canadian man Kristian Lee Baxter held in Syria is freed in Lebanon
- Baxter was detained while travelling in the war-torn country last year, though it was not clear what he was doing there
- He thanked both the Canadian embassy and the Lebanese authorities for helping him get out of Syria
“I did not know if anyone knew if I was alive,” said Kristian Lee Baxter, struggling to speak as he choked back tears while sitting alongside Canada’s ambassador to Lebanon and the Lebanese security chief in Beirut.
Baxter, wearing a grey T-shirt, was detained while travelling in Syria last year, though it was not clear what he was doing there and the Canadian ambassador Emmanuelle Lamoureux said she could not give any details about the case.
Baxter thanked both the Canadian embassy and the Lebanese authorities for helping him get out of Syria. Lamoureux thanked Lebanese security chief Abbas Ibrahim, who last month mediated the release of a US citizen in Syria.
Ibrahim said Baxter had been detained for reasons related to breaking Syrian law.
“I thought I would be there forever,” Baxter said.
“I did not know if anyone knew if I was alive,” he added, and then began to sob.
Several Western citizens have been held in Syria since the civil war began there in 2011, including some by jihadist groups such as Islamic State.
Last year, the family of another American, Majd Kamalmaz, told The New York Times that he had disappeared at a government checkpoint in Damascus in 2017.
