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Kidnapped academic Elizabeth Tsurkov released in Iraq

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 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.”- Phd candidate -Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and fellow at the 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.She was active on Twitter, where she has tens of thousands of followers and 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.

Deadly Israeli strikes targeting Hamas in Qatar earn Trump rebuke

Deadly Israeli air strikes targeted senior Hamas leaders on Tuesday in US ally Qatar, the venue of repeated rounds of Gaza peace talks, drawing a rare rebuke from President Donald Trump.The Palestinian militant group said six people were killed in the strikes, including a son of its top negotiator, but that its senior leaders had survived. Qatar said one of its security officers also died.The White House said Trump did not agree with Israel’s decision to take military action on the US ally’s soil and had warned Qatar in advance of the incoming strikes.But Qatar, which hosts a large US military base, said it had not received the warning from Washington until the attack was already under way.The emirate’s prime minister said it reserved the right to respond to the Israeli attack, which it said constituted a a “pivotal moment” for region.”We believe that today we have reached a pivotal moment,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told a press conference. “There must be a response from the entire region to such barbaric actions.”Qatar said the strikes targeted the homes of several members of Hamas’s political bureau residing in the Gulf country.Three bodyguards and negotiator Khalil al-Hayya’s aide and son were all killed in the attack, Hamas said, affirming “the enemy’s failure to assassinate our brothers in the negotiating delegation”.Qatar’s interior ministry said a member of its internal security forces was killed in the strikes and several other security personnel wounded.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes in response to a Monday shooting in Jerusalem that killed six people and was later claimed by Hamas.”Yesterday, following the deadly attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed all security agencies to prepare for the possibility of targeting Hamas leaders,” said a joint statement from Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz. – ‘Flagrant violation’ -The reaction from Washington to the attack on its ally was a rare personal rebuke for Israel from Trump.While eliminating Hamas was a “worthy goal,” a strike in the Qatari capital “does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, reading from a statement.”The president views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of this attack.”Trump had his envoy notify Qatar of the impending Israeli attack, the White House said, adding that the US president spoke with the leaders of both countries after the strikes.”President Trump immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did,” Leavitt said.But Qatar said the strikes were already under way when the US official called.”The call received from an American official came as explosions sounded from the Israeli attack,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari posted on X.It is the first time Israel has carried out air strikes in the Western-backed Gulf state. Since Hamas’s October 2023 attack, it has also carried out strikes in Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as the Palestinian territories. Speaking at a US embassy event in Jerusalem later, Netanyahu said “terrorist leaders” would no longer be safe anywhere in the world.Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar has led multiple attempts to end the Israel-Hamas war, which was sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s October 2023 attack, and secure the release of the remaining hostages.The main Israeli group campaigning on behalf of the hostages expressed “deep concern” following the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders.”The families of the hostages are following the developments in Doha with deep concern and heavy anxiety. A grave fear now hangs over the price that the hostages may pay,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.- ‘Sledgehammer’ to diplomacy -The strikes have drawn condemnation, including from UN chief Antonio Guterres, who condemned Israel’s “flagrant violation” of Qatari sovereignty.German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the Israeli attack “not only violates Qatar’s territorial sovereignty, but also jeopardises all of our efforts to secure the release of the hostages”.The attack came as Israel stepped up a deadly assault on Gaza City, the Palestinian territory’s largest urban centre.It marked a sharp escalation on the territory of a state that has been a driving force in ceasefire efforts.The Qatari prime minister vowed that the Israeli strikes would not stop emirate from continuing its efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.”Nothing will deter us from continuing this mediation in the region,” Sheikh Mohammed said.But analysts warned that the strikes had likely derailed any potential for a Gaza truce.”Israel knows exactly what it just did. It just killed the negotiations and any chance of getting its hostages back,” said Muhammad Shehada, a political analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations.burs/kir/ser