Marcin Suder was abducted by masked militants in northwestern Syria in July.

Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski announced Suder's return on Twitter, saying the journalist was "already back home."

Reporters Without Borders calls Syria the most dangerous country for journalists.

At least 25 have been killed, along with as many as 80 citizen journalists and bloggers, and many others have gone missing since the conflict began in March 2011.

Suder, a 34-year-old freelancer, was working for the Corbis agency and other outlets when he was kidnapped on 24 July from a media center in Saraqeb, in the northwestern province of Idlib.

A Polish foreign ministry spokesman told AFP news agency that Suder managed to escape his captors and is now with his family.

No-one ever publicly claimed responsibility for the abduction, though Poland was said to have set up a team of specialists to deal with the case. Earlier in October, Sikorski said the journalist was alive, though he offered no further details.

BA/AB