Journalist freed in Iraq after weeks in captivity

The journalist was released on Tuesday. The United States is working to “facilitate her safe departure from Iraq”.

Pro-Iranian Iraqi group Kata’ib Hezbollah declared on Tuesday that American journalist Shelly Kittleson, abducted at the end of March, has been freed. This information was confirmed by the United States.

Her release was announced by the group a few hours before Washington and Tehran agreed on a ceasefire after more than five weeks of war in the Middle East.

“We decided to release the accused American Shelly Kittleson on the condition that she leaves the country immediately,” said Abou Moujahid al-Assaf, a security official within the Iran-backed group.

Exceptional gesture that “will not happen again”

He added that it was an exceptional gesture that “will not happen again (…) because we are in a war led by the Zionist-American enemy against Islam, and in such a situation, many considerations are abandoned,” referring to the war between Israel, the United States, and Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirmed the news, saying, “We are relieved that this American is now free and we are working to facilitate her safe departure from Iraq.”

A senior Iraqi security official had told AFP on April 1 that authorities had arrested a member of a pro-Iranian group suspected of involvement in the abduction of an American journalist.

Marco Rubio stated that Shelly Kittleson had been kidnapped by the Kata’ib Hezbollah group, a blacklisted organization by the United States.

Warning against threats

The State Department did not give Shelly Kittleson’s name, but she was identified by press defense organizations and one of the media outlets she worked for. Based in Rome, the journalist regularly covers Middle Eastern news and has worked for publications like Al-Monitor.

The Trump administration had previously defended itself, with officials claiming they had warned her about threats.

After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the ensuing violence, Iraq has been plagued by kidnappings and attempted kidnappings, but their number has decreased in recent years amid improved security conditions.

Russian-Israeli academic Elizabeth Tsourkov was notably kidnapped in the Iraqi capital in 2023. She was held for two years before being released last year.