American journalist Peter Theo Curtis, captured nearly two years ago, was released in Syria, said U.S. officials Sunday, reports NBC News.

Curtis was freed from the “clutches” of Jabhat Al-Nusrah, the al-Qaeda affiliate fighting in Syria, said Secretary of State John Kerry.

“Over these last two years, the United States reached out to more than two dozen countries asking for urgent help from anyone who might have tools, influence, or leverage to help secure Theo’s release and the release of any Americans held hostage in Syria,” said Kerry.

Curtis was handed over to United Nations officials in Quneitra, in the southwest region of Syria, on Sunday night local time, said the U.N. in a statement.  After a medical evaluation, Curtis was released to U.S. representatives, said the U.N.

The 45-year-old journalist was “safe” and expected to be “reunited with his family shortly,” said National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice.

Using the name Theo Padnos, Curtis had written pieces on Yemen and Syria. He had told colleagues he planned to teach English in Syria, despite the war, reports the Washington Post.

In October 2012, Curtis was reportedly abducted in Antakya, Turkey, where he planned to enter Syria, according to Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which also reported Qatari mediators assisted with the release of Curtis.

For a time, Curtis was held with American photographer Matthew Schrier, a source close to Schrier told NBC News. Schrier escaped from his cell in Aleppo in July 2013, more than six months after being kidnapped. In August 2013, Schrier told the New York Times that their captors accused him and his American cellmate of being spies.

The release comes just days after the Islamist militant group ISIS beheaded American journalist James Foley and threatened to kill Steven Sotloff, another American journalist in their custody. The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that 20 journalists are currently being held captive in Syria.