JAKARTA - Iraqi armed faction pro-Iran Katab Hezbollah has denied allegations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office about the kidnapping of Israeli-Russian scientist Elizabeth Tsurkov who had been missing in Iraq for months.
Kataeb Hezbollah is a strong faction of Iraq's Hased al-Shaabi, a former Iranian-backed paramilitary that has been integrated into Iraqi security forces in recent years.
In a press release via the Telegram channel, the group's spokesman Abu Ali al-Askari said his party was also trying to find out Elizabeth's fate.
"The statement by the prime minister of the Zionist entity (Israel) regarding the presence of Israeli security agent hostages in Iraq is a very dangerous indicator," he said.
"Relational security organizations must uncover networks related to these entities and bring them to justice," he continued.
"In turn, Kataeb Hezbollah will work tirelessly to find out the fate of the hostages or Zionist hostages in Iraq... to find out more about the intent of criminal gangs facilitating their movement in a country... which prohibits and criminalizes any ties to Israel," the statement said.
Breaking: @IsraeliPM just broke the news that Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian researcher, was kidnapped in #Baghdad in Mar. 2023 . @Elizrael is alive & currently being held hostage by an Iraqi Shiite group.We urge the @IraqiGovt to work diligently on securing Elizabeth’s… pic.twitter.com/q7g0Hb6WGI
— Hostage Aid Worldwide (@HostageAid) July 5, 2023
Breaking: @IsraeliPM just broke the news that Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian researcher, was kidsnapped in #Baghdad in Mar. 2023. @Elizrael is alive & currently being hosted by an Iraqii Shiite group.We urge the @IraqiGovt to work diligence on securities Elizabeths... pic.twitter.com/q7g0Hb6WGI
On Wednesday, PM Netanyahu's office said an Israeli-Russian academic suspected of missing in Baghdad in March was still alive and detained in Iraq by the Shia Kataeb Hezbollah group, citing The National News.
Tsurkov is said to have visited Iraq "with Russian passports at its own initiative, to work on his doctoral and academic research on behalf of Princeton University in the United States."
According to Iraqi intelligence sources, Tsurkov was kidnapped in Bagdad "in early Ramadan", the fasting month of Muslims which this year began on March 23.
A Western diplomat stationed in Iraq who declined to give his name said Elizabeth arrived in Baghdad "in early December 2022,".
The Tsurkov website says he is a researcher at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, as well as a researcher at the Forum for Regional Thinking, a Jerusalem-based Israel-Palestinian think tank.
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"Liz is part of America. He works with Washington think tank, writes for American magazine and studies at Princeton University. He deserves all American efforts to take him to a safe place," the New Lines said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the witness who knew him said Tsurkov used to move freely in the Iraqi capital.
He focused on pro-Iran factions and the movement of Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as part of his research in the region, according to several journalists he had met.
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