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Tehran-Aligned Militia In Iraq Frees American Journalist In Prisoner Swap

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
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An Iran-backed militia in Iraq has announced it will release an American freelance journalist kidnapped in Baghdad a week ago. Shelly Kittleson was abducted on March 31, and her captors in Kataib Hezbollah announced Tuesday that she can go free as long as she exits Iraq immediately.

Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official in the group, has been cited in international reports as saying, "In recognition of the national stances of the outgoing prime minister, we have decided to release the American defendant Shelly Kittleson."

Image source: Wausau Pilot & Review

This constitutes direct confirmation that the group is indeed responsible for her kidnapping, which happened after weeks of the US-Israeli attacks in Iran.

At the time of the 49-year-old’' abduction, Iraqi authorities said security forces pursued the suspects, resulting in one of the kidnappers’ vehicles overturning and one arrest.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani days ago intensified the search, ordering security forces to track down those responsible for abducting foreigners.

Kataib Hezbollah has claimed that it has a recording it is ready to release, supposedly showing Kittleson’s "role and activities in Iraq" - and at least one such video while in captivity has appeared.

In the past when Westerners or Israelis have been abducted in Iraq, they are typically accused of spying on behalf of foreign governments.

The NY Times says she has gone free, after an exchange:

Ms. Kittleson, who has reported on the Middle East for more than a decade for various outlets, was set free in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Kataib Hezbollah members, according to the two Iraqi security officials. They asked not to be identified in order to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Starting in March the State Department urged all Americans to leave the country immediately, after which the US Embassy in Baghdad came under repeat drone fire. Other US sites, as well as oil facilities, have come under fire either from Iran or its allied groups in Iraq.