Abduction of the investigator in Iraq: Baghdad is in no hurry to blame the pro-Iranian Hezbollah Brigades militia or treat Elizabeth Tsurkov as Israeli, while the pro-Iranian government seeks to free her through negotiations. This was reported in the Arab media.
An Iraqi security source at the National Security Advisory in Baghdad confirmed the abduction of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov. The source noted that "coordination is underway with several security officials to know which party kidnapped her." He also claimed that "the statements of the Israeli occupation authority that the abductee is Israeli stem from the fact that she holds more than one passport."
Hezbollah Brigades members training in Iraq // Photo: Arab networks
The official also confirmed that Iraqi security forces were notified on 27 March that a group of militants had removed a woman in her 30s from a car and led her at gunpoint in the Al Qarada area in central Baghdad to an unknown location. He added that there was "very little information about the hijackers, who were traveling in a white van and a black van without license plates." The Iraqi official referred to Tsurkov as a Russian kidnapped woman with an American passport who had visited the country several times.
A politician in Baghdad told the pro-Qatari newspaper Al-Arabi Al-Jadid that Tsurkov was being held by a pro-Iranian armed group. He noted that the Mohammed Shia al-Sudani government was seeking her release through negotiations after security forces failed to reach her, despite the arrest of several suspects during the search operation.
The Mohammed Shia al-Sudani government wants to release her through negotiations. Iraq's president appoints Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to form a government, Photo: Reuters
The politician assessed that the site of Tsurkov's abduction proves that the kidnapper was an armed faction with appropriate security cover and could be one of the militias of the Shiite umbrella organization Hashd al-Shaabi (which includes Hezbollah brigades).
At the same time, Iraqi security expert Ahmed al-Naomi told the newspaper that the announcement of the incident – after four months had passed since the abduction – could hint at the failure of negotiations with the kidnappers. He noted that the Iraqi version speaks of a Russian-American citizen "without specifying her religion." In addition, the Arab media noted that as of now, no response has been published from an official source in Iraq regarding the abduction.
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