Canadian grateful to be back in B.C. after eight-month detention in Syria

VANCOUVER — A Canadian man who spent eight months in Syrian prisons said he wept three times on his flight back because he was so excited to finally be coming home.

Kristian Baxter of Nanaimo, B.C., returned to Vancouver on Saturday, just days after he was released from Syrian custody thanks, in part, to Lebanese mediation. The 45-year-old was detained while visiting the warravaged country as a tourist last December.

“I’m just thrilled to be a Canadian citizen and I’m just so happy to see green grass and trees and flowers and the big Canadian flag over there,” he said during a brief and emotional interview on his way home to Nanaimo.

Baxter appeared pale but in good spirits, holding his arm around his mother, Andrea Leclair, and his hand on stepfather Jean-Guy Leclair’s shoulder as he spoke. He hadn’t slept in three days, he said, and was overwhelmed with gratitude for every government official, negotiator, lawyer and family member who worked “tirelessly” for his release.

A warning against travel to Syria has been in place since war broke out in the Middle Eastern nation in 2011. Canada does not have an embassy in the country.

Lebanon’s General Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim said at a news conference in Beirut yesterday that Baxter was detained for what Syrian authorities considered a “major violation” of local laws, adding that authorities there may have considered the incident security related.

Baxter’s release marked the second time Lebanon has helped free a foreigner held in Syria.