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US journalist released from Syria 'overwhelmed with emotion'

A US journalist released earlier this week after almost two years of imprisonment in Syria said he was "overwhelmed with emotion" because of the attention he has received upon returning home.

Peter Theo Curtis, 45, was captured in 2012 by Nusra Front and was only released on Sunday.

He said: "I suddenly remember how good the American people are, and what kindness they have in their hearts."

Meanwhile, Douglas McAuthur McCain, 33, who is suspected of fighting with Islamic State militants operating in Iraq and Syria, has been killed in the Middle East, a US security official has said.

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IS attack on the US 'will come sooner rather than later'

It is a matter of time before Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria launch an attack on the US or the West, according to a former head of the CIA.

Retired General Michael Hayden has warned of an Islamic State attack on the US. Credit: Reuters

Retired General Michael Hayden told CNN that the group "has the tools" to attack and it had expressed the intent to do so.

He said: "It's at a time of their choosing and it will probably come sooner rather than later..... There is no way more powerful to express their street credentials among the jihadist community than a successful attack against the West."

He added: "Isis is a very powerful local organisation and probably a reasonably powerful regional terrorist organization but it's one that has global ambitions and it has the tools."

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US journalist released from Syria 'overwhelmed with emotion'

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