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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the release of Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov who was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023.While Iraq said a “group of outlaws” kidnapped Tsurkov, Trump announced she was released by the powerful pro-Iran Kataeb Hezbollah group.”As a culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months, we announce the release of the Russian citizen, Elizabeth Tsurkov,” Sudani said on X. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Tsurkov “was just released” by Kataeb Hezbollah “after being tortured for many months” and was now at the US embassy in Baghdad.Sabah al-Numan, the military spokesman for the Iraqi prime minister, said later in a statement that “following extensive and high-level security and intelligence efforts… authorities succeeded, on September 9, in locating and reaching the site of her detention.”Tsurkov was delivered to the US embassy to “facilitate her reunion with her sister, a US citizen,” he added. The former captive’s sister, Emma Tsurkov, thanked Trump, his special envoy Adam Boehler, the US embassy in Baghdad and the non-profit group Global Reach for their roles in securing the release.”My entire family is incredibly happy. We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days,” she posted on social media.Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and fellow at the Washington-based New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, went missing in Iraq in March 2023.She had likely entered Iraq on her Russian passport and had travelled to the country as part of her doctoral studies.Her research focused on the Levant, and she worked extensively on Syria during its civil war as well as on Iraq. She speaks English, Russian, Hebrew and Arabic.Numan said Tsurkov was kidnapped by a “group of outlaws” without naming any party, and added that Iraq’s security forces “will continue to pursue all those involved in this crime and ensure they are held accountable.”- ‘Peace through strength’ -In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the release, saying US measures against hostage diplomacy played a key role.”Less than a week after @POTUS (Trump) signed an executive order to strengthen efforts against hostage diplomacy, Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov has been released,” Rubio wrote.”This is peace through strength in action,” he added, thanking Iraq’s Sudani for his support.Tsurkov was active on social media, with tens of thousands of followers on X. She describes herself as “passionate about human rights”.In Baghdad, she had focused on pro-Iran factions and the movement of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr as part of her research on the region.She was abducted as she was leaving a cafe in the Iraqi capital’s Karrada neighbourhood, an Iraqi intelligence source told AFP in 2023.Israeli authorities blamed Kataeb Hezbollah for her disappearance, but the group implied that it was not involved.- Kataeb Hezbollah? -Kataeb Hezbollah did not claim in 2023 the abduction, but a source in the group told AFP Tuesday Tsurkov was released to spare Iraq any “conflicts”.She “was released according to conditions, the most important of which was to facilitate the withdrawal of US forces without a fight and to spare Iraq any conflicts or fighting,” the source said.”She was released and not liberated. No military operation was carried out to free her,” the source added.Like other armed groups trained by Iran during the war against the Islamic State group (IS), Kataeb Hezbollah were integrated into the regular security forces as part of the Hashed al-Shaabi or the Popular Mobilisation force (PMF).However, the faction has developed a reputation for sometimes acting on its own.The group and other Iran-backed Iraqi factions have been calling for the withdrawal of US troops deployed in Iraq at Baghdad’s invitation as part of the anti-IS coalition. US forces in Iraq and neighbouring Syria were repeatedly targeted by Kataeb Hezbollah and other pro-Iran groups following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.They have responded with heavy strikes on Tehran-linked targets, and the attacks have halted.The US and Iraq have announced that the anti-IS coalition would end its decade-long military mission in federal Iraq in 2025, and by September 2026 in the autonomous Kurdistan region in the country’s north.

A Syrian man was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for killing three people in an Islamist-motivated knife attack at a summer festival in the German city of Solingen last year.The court in Duesseldorf said Issa Al Hasan, 27, was a member of the Islamic State group and had acted out of “treacherous and base motives”.The stabbing spree in August 2024, in which another eight people were seriously wounded, took place on the opening night of a three-day “festival of diversity”.It was one of a series of attacks attributed to asylum seekers and migrants that pushed immigration to the top of the political agenda ahead of a general election in Germany early this year.When prosecutors charged him in February, they said they believed Hasan had been in contact with representatives of the Islamic State group ahead of the attack.The suspect set out to harm “non-believers” at the festival because “he saw them as representatives of Western society”, said prosecutors — but also “to take revenge against them for the military actions of Western states”.IS later said in a statement by its Amaq news agency on the Telegram messaging app that “a soldier” of the group had carried out the attack in “revenge” for Muslims “in Palestine and everywhere”.Hasan made a full confession during his trial, which was held under tight security in Duesseldorf.In a statement read out by his lawyer, he admitted having “committed a grave crime”. “Three people died at my hands. I seriously injured others,” he said.”Some of them survived only by luck. They could have died, too… I deserve and expect a life sentence.”

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush could miss Sunday’s Manchester derby after the Manchester City player suffered a knee ligament injury while on international duty.Marmoush was due to have an X-ray on his arrival in Cairo on Wednesday after he was substituted in the fourth minute of Egypt’s goalless draw with Burkina Faso in a World Cup qualifier in Ouagadougou on Tuesday.He sustained the injury following a tackle and tried to play on but eventually had to limp off.The Egyptian Football Association said in a statement that the national team doctor had “confirmed that Omar Marmoush’s injury is a bruised knee ligament, and the player will undergo an X-ray upon his arrival in Cairo on Wednesday morning.”City host Manchester United on Sunday with both sides needing a win after unconvincing starts to the new Premier League season.Marmoush, 26, has scored eight goals in 28 games for City in all competitions since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £59 million ($79.8 million) transfer in January.

US President Donald Trump gave Benjamin Netanyahu a rare slap on the wrist Tuesday over Israel’s strikes against Hamas in Qatar, as he insisted he played no role in the attack by one close US ally against another.Trump said he was not notified in advance of the Israeli attack on the Gulf state, a crucial broker in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas on ending the Gaza war and securing the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants.”I’m not thrilled about the whole situation,” Trump told reporters during a rare outing to a Washington restaurant. “We want the hostages back, but we are not thrilled about the way that went down today.”The Israeli attack on Doha could hardly be more sensitive as Qatar, in addition to its role in the Gaza negotiations, is home to a huge US airbase and hosted Trump during a Middle East swing this year.The fossil fuel-rich emirate also recently gave the United States a luxury Boeing 747-8 jet for Trump to use as his presidential plane, a move that sparked major ethical questions.”This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump said in a post on social media.”I view Qatar as a strong Ally and friend of the U.S., and feel very badly about the location of the attack,” he said — although adding that eliminating Hamas was still a “worthy goal.”In a statement that largely echoed one issued earlier by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Trump focused on the possible damage to his efforts to end the war in Gaza.”Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a Sovereign Nation and close Ally of the United States, that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker Peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” Trump said.- ‘Too late’ -The US president was at pains to point out that Washington was caught unawares by the Israeli attack.He said the White House was “notified by the United States Military that Israel was attacking Hamas which, very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha.””I immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack.”Trump said he had spoken to Netanyahu in the aftermath, and tried to put a positive gloss on the affair.”The Prime Minister told me that he wants to make Peace. I believe this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for PEACE,” he said.Leavitt told reporters earlier that Trump had given Netanyahu a “very clear” message about his “concerns.”Trump’s rebuke of Netanyahu was uncommon, as the US president has given the Israeli leader almost unstinting backing since returning to the Oval Office in January.Israel’s ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter said in a Fox News interview Tuesday that the United States and Israel were “united in the effort of eliminating Hamas as being a threat to peace in the Middle East.””We have acted together in the past, we’ll act together in the future,” Leiter added.As Qatar complained about the attack, Trump said he had now directed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to finalize a defense cooperation agreement with Doha.Trump added that he had assured Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in a phone call that “such a thing will not happen again on their soil.”Doha had earlier insisted it had no warning of the attack.”The call received from an American official came as explosions sounded from the Israeli attack in Doha,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said on social media.Qatar has once again found itself caught in the crossfire of the turmoil in the Middle East. Iran fired missiles at the US Al Udeid airbase in June in retaliation for US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.