Syria releases American photographer

The Syrian government has released an American whom the The Washington Post identified as a freelance photographer who was in captivity since 2012.

Officials told the Post that Kevin Dawes was released after many months of negotiations between the regime and the State Department.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner would not confirm the identity if the released American, “citing privacy concerns, but said that reports of his identity are “not inaccurate.”

{mosads}Officials from the Czech Republic — which serves as the formal protecting power for Washington in Syria — and Russia were involved in the release, Toner said. The U.S. has not had a formal diplomatic presence in Syria since 2012, due to the ongoing chaos that has engulfed the nation.

Dawes “is no longer in Syria,” Toner said.

The 33-year-old photographer, who reportedly also worked in Libya as a medical aid worker and rebel against Moammar Gaddafi’s government, was captured when he crossed into Syria from Turkey.

The Syrian government is suspected to be holding additional American detainees, including former U.S. Marine Austin Tice, who also disappeared in 2012.

The State Department on Friday indicated that Dawes’s release would not necessarily lead to new information about Tice or other Americans.

“We continue to work through the Czechs on the ground to get information on the welfare and whereabouts of Austin Tice. It’s something we raise all the time,” Toner told reporters. “We can’t provide any additional details at this time.

“We are obviously in direct contact with his family as well as the families of many U.S. citizens detained there.”